Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 6 December 2017.
Well, the Cabinet Secretary will, of course, be aware of the announcements that a number of banks have made about branch closures throughout Wales, including in my constituency. With these latest announcements, the number of branches that will have closed since 2011 in Wales now extends to 186 branches, and five of the 10 areas that have faced the greatest number of branch closures are in Wales, including Carmarthenshire. So, it is a crisis. I have read the report, which was commissioned by the Government, of course. It was published by the Cabinet Secretary for the economy as a result of a short debate held by Plaid Cymru on banking. That report—it's not entirely correct to say that it only refers to economic development, because it also mentions models such as the Hampshire community bank, which relates to community banking. Therefore, may I ask, please, Cabinet Secretary, what you are going to do in terms of this crisis regarding community banking for the citizens of Wales, who are now in a situation where, in many parts of Wales, there is no financial service available for them at all?