The Royal Bank of Scotland “has listened and engaged with customers, communities and elected representatives from all parties” and will now keep ten branches open – at least until the end of the year.
At the end of the year an independent review will be carried out into the use of these branches and whether they should be kept open or not. Most of the branches earmarked for closure are in communities where there is no other Royal Bank branch within a nine mile radius.
As part of a package of support the Royal Bank of Scotland says it will look to open new branches across Scotland, improve ATM accessibility for all communities affected by the closures, review opening hours of remaining branches, and work with communities to give empty branches to local community groups for free.
Bankers recently appeared before Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee to explain the thinking behind the closure plans, and the politicians have given the RBS announcement a guarded welcome.
In a statement last night, Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee said: “We welcome today’s announcement from RBS as the first steps to addressing the concerns raised by the committee. However, given that there is a still an active closure programme being pursued by RBS, we remain to be convinced that the threat of serious consequences for remote or deprived communities has been removed. We hope that RBS will continue to consider the action they have taken and listen to local communities about the impact it will have on them.
“We will now be calling Ross McEwan to give evidence to clarify the contents of their announcements and press him on the future of the other branches in the RBS network. The Committee will also call the Treasury Minister responsible for representing the public interest in RBS, given that the Government are the majority shareholders.”
24
0
20
