Closing bank branches

SIR – The pressure heaped on the Royal Bank of Scotland to reverse planned branch closures (report, April 27) has so far been of no avail, despite their trebling profits. RBS’S latest 162 closures come on top of 259 announced last December, and many more from Lloyds and Halifax.

Last year I chaired the Lords Select Committee on Financial Exclusion, which found that a significant portion of British citizens lacked access to basic financial services. A key factor was local bank closures.

Some 53 per cent of Britain’s branches closed between 1989 and 2016 – more than in any other European country. We concluded that “vulnerable groups including the elderly, those suffering from mental health problems and people living with disabilities” were at risk, as well as those in rural areas.

To its credit, the Government seems open to some solutions. On Tuesday the Lords again considered the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill. Peers on all benches recognised that the Bill could mitigate some of the causes of financial exclusion, not least through creating a single financial guidance body to develop a national strategy. With cross-party consensus, important changes have been made to the Bill to strengthen consumer protection. Isn’t it now time for banks to take their responsibilities to vulnerable customers seriously? Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Lib Dem) London SW1