Full impact of bank cuts revealed in document

Whistleblower’s information suggests total number of jobs to be lost in Scotland will be double published by the bank

Hundreds more jobs will be lost in Royal Bank of Scotland’s cull of branches than its bosses have admitted, says a whistleblower.

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford told MPs of a leaked document suggesting full-time staff cuts from the closure programme in Scotland will be 321 – double the number published by the taxpayer-owned bank.

Eight of the RBS branches to shut next year are in Tayside and Fife, while the Bank of Scotland is closing a further two. This month’s announcements follow a flurry of the branch closures in the region in recent years.

The Courier is campaigning against the cuts, which will hit vulnerable people and small businesses the hardest.

Leading a Commons debate, Mr Blackford said the whistleblower had handed him a document showing the UK-wide figure for job losses is 1,446, rather than the 685 published by the bank. He said the 685 figure “only represents the full-time equivalent redundancy impact”.

“The actual job losses is much higher, 1,446 UK wide, including many high quality, part-time jobs in rural areas with little prospect of redeployment,” he said. “This is obviously likely to have a disproportionate effect in rural areas, disproportionately affecting women who are more likely to hold part-time positions.”

Mr Blackford said it is clear the “chances of redeployment within the RBS network are slim for a lot of staff members”.

“RBS are not only turning their back on their customers, they are turning their backs on their staff members,” he added.

Treasury minister Steve Barclay said RBS’s decision is independent of the UK Government and also noted the banking market is changing, with the use of cash and branch visits decreasing.

Mr Barclay concluded: “It’s important we use the time we now have in the six months between this announcement and branches closing in order to ensure customers are able to use other services or to use the post office as an alternative.”

Luke Graham, the Conservative MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, told the debate: “The mitigating factors they’re putting forward in terms of offering digital online services and post office services doesn’t work in our communities where broadband is poor and the post offices are too small or insufficient for our local populations.”

No one at RBS was available for comment.

Picture: PA. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told MPs the UK-wide figure of job losses is 1,446.