8. Will the First Minister make a statement on how a community bank for Wales would benefit communities in Caerphilly? OAQ54232

Llywydd, bank closures continue to have a detrimental impact on access to banking services for individuals, communities and small and medium-sized enterprises across Wales. Community banks have a potentially important role in regionalising and localising financial flows, and to continue the provision of banking services in communities such as Caerphilly.

On Wednesday last week, Lloyds Banking Group announced that they were closing their branch in Bargoed in my constituency. Previously, HSBC have pulled out, NatWest have closed their branch in Ystrad Mynach, and Barclays have closed their branch in Nelson. We are seeing a desertion of the northern Valleys by the commercial banks. Only a few weeks ago, we held, with the Welsh Government, in Bargoed, a business advice and support surgery for the community of Bargoed, not only to showcase what Bargoed can do but also to support those businesses that want to grow. So, this makes Lloyds's decision even more grimly ironic.

The Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee is currently exploring this very issue, and particularly a community bank. So, with that in mind, could he outline what benefit a community bank will have specifically for a community like Bargoed? Also, how will that community benefit be spread across the constituency? To also be clear: is this a Welsh Government policy, to support a community bank?

Llywydd, it certainly is a Welsh Government policy to support the development of a community bank for Wales. Those who have promoted it are very clear that it has to be a community bank. In that sense, ownership of it has to belong to those communities where we hope new bank branches will open. Hefin David is completely correct that conventional banking is deserting communities right across the country—250 or more bank branch closures since 2015. A community bank of the sort that we are designing—. And Hefin David and other Members who have taken an interest in this topic will want to know that there was a visit yesterday from a delegation from Wales, including a representative from my office, to Bicester, where there is a demonstration unit showing how all the technologies and user equipment needed to support the new idea of a community bank can be there for people to go and see it in operation. They came back from that visit with a renewed confidence that it would be possible to design a community bank for Wales that will focus on Welsh citizens and SMEs, not on large corporate customers, and will focus on providing those savings and loans services on which individual citizens and small businesses rely. 

Thank you, First Minister.