I thank Simon Thomas for those points. My party had exactly that policy in our manifesto at elections this year, and, I think, in 2015. It's based on the 1976 community banking Act that's been there in the United States of America ever since that time. Where a bank retreats from a high street, it has a legal obligation to ensure that there are replacement facilities for those, where a need can be demonstrated, and to provide the funding that creates those facilities.

Where there are rural communities, as in Llandysul, where no banking facilities exist—or, even, in urban communities. I could've replicated his account for the high street in Llandaff in my constituency. Now, you could say, 'Well, Llandaff is in an urban area and you could find another bank not that far away.' But actually, for certain groups in the population who are not used to online banking, and for whom mobility can be a difficulty, the need for a face-to-face place where you can go and transact business is very real.

It's just those sorts of identified needs that the 1976 banking Act in the United States was designed to address, and I think it lends strength to the argument the Member has made about a statutory framework to ensure that individuals and areas are not abandoned from essential services in this area in the future.