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BICYCLE AND MOTORCYCLE MILEAGE ALLOWANCES
Motion made, and Question proposed,
- That the Resolution of the House of 20th March 1998 on the bicycle allowance be rescinded and the following provision be made in its place:
(1) That, in the opinion of this House, provision should be made as from 1st April 2004 with respect to the rates of mileage allowance payable to Members in respect of journeys by motorcycle, scooter or bicycle for which if undertaken by car, the car mileage allowance would be payable,
(a) by Members, or
(b) by spouses, children or employees paid from the staffing allowance;
(2) In respect of journeys by motorcycle or scooter, a motorcycle mileage allowance shall be payable at the same rate as the motorcycle mileage rate approved by the Inland Revenue and then in force;
(3) In respect of journeys by bicycle, a bicycle mileage allowance shall be payable at the same rate as the bicycle mileage rate approved by the Inland Revenue and then in force.—[Vernon Coaker.]
Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Have you had any indication that the Government will make a statement about, first, the resignation of Mr. Greg Dyke as director-general of the BBC, especially concerning the procedures that will be employed with regard to the appointment of a new chairman and director-general of the corporation to ensure the independence of the BBC, which many of us value and over which there is a question mark at present? Secondly, have you heard, Mr. Deputy Speaker, whether there will be a statement on whether the honourable culture of resignation after mistakes are made in bodies for which people are responsible will extend to the higher echelons of Government if it transpires that no weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq?
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): I have no knowledge that any such statement is proposed to be made to the House.
Scottish Banks and the Post Office
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Vernon Coaker.]
2.5 pm
Mr. Calum MacDonald (Western Isles): I had hoped that the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) was going to participate in this debate, and I invite him to stay.
Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP) indicated assent.
Mr. MacDonald: I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman will because, as I am sure that he acknowledges, both as a Scottish MP and as a former employee of the Scottish banks, this important issue affects hundreds of thousands of loyal bank customers across Scotland. Many of those customers have been loyal to Scottish banks throughout their entire lives. I opened my first bank account on my first day at university when I was 18, and continued to maintain an account with a Scottish bank while I lived abroad for eight years on the west coast of the United States. Today, although I spend at least half of the year in London, I bank only with a Scottish bank.
Mr. Salmond: I am delighted to assure the hon. Gentleman that I have signed both early-day motions on this important matter. Moreover, I am happy to support his initiative in this Adjournment debate, and I congratulate him on securing it.
Mr. MacDonald: I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's support and for the support of Scottish colleagues from all parties who signed the two early-day motions.
The Scottish banks rely on the loyalty of customers throughout Scotland who bank with them because they are, first and foremost, Scottish banks. Although those customers are unfailingly loyal to the Scottish banks, I am afraid that those same banks are grossly disloyal to their Scottish customers. The Government have invested huge sums in installing in every post office, however remote or small, technology that enables anyone to go into any post office branch—I am sure that the Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services will give us further details—and access their bank accounts, check their statements, make deposits or withdraw money. That is a huge step forward in post office customer service provision, and it is also a huge step forward for customers of the various banks.
For the first time ever, people are within easy reach of ordinary banking services, which are just a short walk from their homes. For pensioners, people in remote and rural areas, small businesses, hard-pressed mothers looking after children at home, and people trying to juggle their finances and lives, the change has the potential to make their life a great deal easier. One would have thought that the banks would leap at this opportunity to provide a useful and welcome service to their customers, and some have done so. Currently, the Post Office has agreements with the Alliance and Leicester, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and the Co-operative bank, as well as well as new internet banks such as
Cahoot, Smile and First Direct in Scotland. Already some 20 million customers in Britain have access to an automated service through their local post offices. Those banks are to be congratulated on putting the needs and the convenience of their customers first.Sadly, however, although the Post Office has sought to reach similar agreements with the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale group, those three Scottish banks have each refused so far to make any kind of similar arrangement. Their customers continue to get a second-class service. If the Post Office had been unable to reach agreement with any banks whatsoever, there would be a case for saying that perhaps the shortcomings were on the Post Office side of the negotiations, and that it was trying to achieve too lucrative a deal for itself. But when so many other banks have signed up and are already co-operating with the Post Office, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Scottish banks are putting their profits before service to their customers and leaving their customers short-changed.
There can be no question that the post office network can provide a vastly superior service to that provided even by the banks that try to maintain a wide network of local branches. We know that banks find it harder and harder to maintain such a network, but the Post Office has more than 16,500 branches throughout Britain. Not only is that more than any other postal service in Europe, but it is more than the combined total of the six biggest banks in Britain. Even if one added to that the combined total of the four biggest building societies, the total number of branches would still be well short—by some 2,000 branches—of the size of the post office network.
The superiority of the post office network is most apparent in scattered rural communities, such as in the constituency that I represent, where we have a small handful of bank branches scattered throughout the islands, but they are concentrated in local population centres that are very many miles, and long, expensive driving distances, apart. By contrast, in my constituency the Post Office has a branch in every rural district. Across Britain, the vast majority of people—85 per cent.—who live in rural areas live within 1 mile of the local post office. That is a network second to none in Britain or in Europe, and it is intolerable that the Scottish banks are refusing to take advantage of it at a time when they are making very healthy profits.
A great deal of patience has been shown during the lengthy discussions that have taken place between the Post Office and the Scottish banks. Customers have been waiting patiently for an agreement to be reached, sub-postmasters have been waiting patiently for an agreement to be reached, and politicians such as ourselves have been happy, so far, to let the banks get on with their negotiations without undue intervention. However, I know that I speak for the great majority of my Scottish colleagues from all parties when I say that that patience has run out. When even the Bank of Ireland has struck a deal with the Post Office to provide a full range of banking services, including throughout Scotland, there is simply no excuse for the Scottish banks still to be dragging their feet.
The banks should be warned. When people see tourists from England and Ireland coming to Scotland this summer and being able to withdraw their cash from the village post office, while Scottish customers living in
the same villages have to get into their cars or make long bus journeys to access the same services, there will be an angry backlash against this disparity and inequality of treatment.Earlier today I received a fax from the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, informing me that they are commencing a campaign to alert their post office customers to the present state of affairs. Colin Baker, the general secretary, stated in the fax:
- "The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters has launched a campaign to harness the power of customer pressure to persuade banks that there is a strong customer demand for access to all types of account via the Post Office pin-pad technology."
- "We are targeting, in particular, Royal Bank of Scotland Group and HSBC."
As the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) said, there are two early-day motions on the subject before the House, signed, at the latest count, by 44 Scottish Members of Parliament, as well as by a good number of sympathetic, Union-minded English colleagues. Excluding Scottish Members on the payroll vote who obviously cannot sign because of that, practically every Scottish Member has signed one or the other of the motions. I know that a number of colleagues from Scottish constituencies will participate in the debate, and I am delighted that the early start of the debate did not catch them short, although their presence may have something to do with the fact that all the flights from Heathrow have been cancelled.
I know that there will be calls from colleagues in the Chamber and from my Scottish Labour colleagues for the banks to come down to Westminster to explain themselves to us. I encourage the Scottish Affairs Committee to take an interest in the issue, and I am confident that it will. The banks cannot be allowed to carry on abusing the loyalty of their Scottish customers in this way. I therefore ask my hon. Friend the Minister to say what steps he is taking to assist the Post Office to reach agreement with the Scottish banks. Will he undertake to convey to the banks the sentiments of the House, as expressed today?
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