Perthshire Advertiser

Mp wishart slams rBs

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The Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminste­r has moved to criticise the Royal Bank of Scotland one more time before the closures start in Perth and Kinross. Pete Four branches in the

region are set to close Wishart MP

over the next month, with the first coming this week when the Pitlochry RBS shuts up shop for the final time on Thursday, May 31.

Pete Wishart MP, who is chair of the committee and represents Perth and North Perthshire at the UK Parliament, said:“The Royal Bank of Scotland do not seem to understand the impact of the closures on communitie­s in Scotland.

“The loss of a permanent bank, and the services it provides, cannot be replicated by the occasional visit of a mobile bank or community banker.

“In rural areas, the local branch is as an essential whose withdrawal is compounded by poor access to broadband and journey time to the next available facility.

“RBS did not consult adequately and even at this last stage should reverse their decision to close these branches.”

The SNP representa­tive continued:“The reprieve offered to 10 branches is inadequate and almost designed to fail, with no soild plan about how these branches’performanc­e will be assessed.”

Luke Graham, MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, backed the committee’s findings.

He said:“I have opposed these closures every step of the way since they were announced. The impact they will have upon communitie­s in Ochil and South Perthshire are significan­t, and the mitigation­s proposed by RBS are utterly pathetic and entirely inadequate.”

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