The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tayside bank closure dates announced
Tayside banks will shut in March and April next year as part of a mass closure programme by the Lloyds Banking Group.
The owner of Lloyds, Ha l i f a x and Bank of Scotland yesterday said it would continue with plans to close 56 branches despite union pleas to halt the programme.
The major banking group previously announced in January that its Perthshire Bank of Scotland branches in Auchterarder and the village of Killin, by Loch Tay, would shut, as would another BoS branch in Kinross.
The closures were initially planned for August, but delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unite, a recognised trade union in Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), described the decision by the bank to resume its bank branch closure as “unjustified and damaging”.
Unite national officer
Rob MacGregor said: “The decision to go ahead and close 56 branches is unjustified and damaging.
“This devastating news comes just two weeks after the bank announced the loss of more than 1,000 jobs from across LBG.
“The pandemic has highlighted the vital role our local bank branches play in providing an essential service to the community.
“These closures don’t just cut a vital service from communities, but also force customers to travel further to stand in larger crowds of customers queuing outside busier branches.”
The union boss urged the bank to assess the impacts of any proposed closures on members, customers, and the local economic activity.
“Across the country, trade unions, MPs and community groups have expressed their concerns to the banking sector about the negative impact their actions are having on local economies and the wider society,” Mr MacGregor added.
“Once again the voice of customers and staff appear to be ignored in the rush to make short-term savings.”
The branches were all initially identified to close from April to October this year.
A Lloyds spokeswoman said there would be no compulsory redundancies.
She added: “We paused these closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and, after careful consideration, these planned closures will take place in March and April 2021.”
T he bank pre viously stated the three locations were all less than half a mile from a post office which offered some banking services.
It said nearly threequarters of customers in the three branches already used other locations and other ways to bank, such as online and telephone banking.