Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 15 November 2016.
Diolch, Lywydd. Leader of the house, I’d be grateful if you could please ask the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to bring forward a statement regarding the planned closure of Lloyds Bank branches throughout Wales. Llywydd, I should declare an interest as a former employee of the Lloyds Banking Group. Now, I know that I’m not the first Assembly Member to raise bank closures in the Chamber, and I suspect I won’t be the last, but this recent announcement for Pembrokeshire is wholly disproportionate to the number of nationwide closures that Lloyds Bank are proposing, given that three of the 49 planned branch closures happen to be in my constituency. Of course, these banks are a lifeline for many people living in and around those communities and their closure will have a devastating impact. Therefore, can you please encourage the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to bring forward a statement on this issue so that people living in the affected communities can understand exactly what the Welsh Government is doing to mitigate against negative effects of these closures on communities in my constituency, and indeed across Wales?