Supplementary memorandum by the National
Consumer Council (NCC)
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
AND THE
COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING
REVIEW
In January the National Consumer Council (NCC)
appeared before your Committee to present evidence to your inquiry
into financial inclusion[216].
Our evidence highlighted the need for sustained government, political
and financial commitment in this area over the medium and longer
term. As Ministers from the Treasury, Department for Work and
Pensions and the Department for Trade and Industry will be appearing
before the committee on 22 May we would urge you and your fellow
committee members to explore these issues with them. In particular
it would be useful to know what plans each of the departments
has to bid for funds for financial inclusion in the Comprehensive
Spending Review (CSR).
As you will be aware, in 2005 the government
announced that a Comprehensive Spending Review would be carried
out in 2007. As part of this process we expect that government
departments will already be in the early stages of considering
funding bids to the Treasury. Sustained funding for financial
inclusion work will be essential to ensure that policies designed
to address this issue are successful. Therefore, it would be very
useful to know what these departments will be doing to secure
future Government funding for financial inclusion work as part
of their CSR bids. If we are to move forward and address the problems
of financial exclusion over the longer term a consistent stream
of funding is essential. We intend to raise this issue with HM
Treasury but we are keen that parliamentarians should also be
included in the debate on the future funding for this work. It
would be helpful if your Committee would be able to consider these
issues as part of your inquiry.
Since all government departments will have to
take a zero-based budgetary approach as part of the CSR we are
keen to ensure funding for work on financial inclusion remains
part of committed departmental budgets. It is also important that
a considered and consistent approach is taken across government.
May 2006
216 Ev 1-25 Back
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