Richmond and Northallerton MP Rishi Sunak has asked for a reassessment of whether a North Yorkshire market town is suitable for a banking hub.
The MP told members of North Yorkshire Council’s Richmond area committee this week that he had written to hub operator Link asking for an explanation of why a previous application for a facility in Stokesley was rejected.
The MP told councillors he was asked about the issue when he visited the town last week, adding: “As you probably know, Link carried out a cash access review in the spring last year, which was before the Santander branch closed.
“At that point, they said that the banking hub was not necessary. Now, I’ve got some experience of this having helped establish the successful banking hub in Richmond, so I’ve written to the Link CEO just asking for an explanation of the data that they used in the review and the criteria that they had used to decide that if a community got a hub or not, because it did seem an odd conclusion.”
The MP said the explanation he received was that it was based on the number of people living near the town centre and the number of retail businesses in the area.
He added: “They have a couple of thresholds. The first is more than 10,000 people living within 3 miles of the high street or town centre and the other one is the high street town centre area having more than 70 retail businesses.
“I’ve written to Link again asking for a reassessment to be done as I think there have been material changes since their last assessment, for example, the closure of the Yorkshire Building Society in January.”
The MP said he was still waiting for a response from Link.
Stokesley councillor Bryn Griffiths thanked the MP for his help, adding that the town council had also contacted Link.
He added: “We’ve raised several points which we think are most important issues regarding demographics of the area.
“We’re significantly older than most of North Yorkshire around here, unfortunately, but we don’t think they’ve taken that into account.
“Nor do we think they’ve taken into account the number of businesses which are located around here, together with the number of people working there.”
Community leaders in the town have previously warned that local residents and businesses are being left behind as bank branch closures continue across the region.
Banking Hubs are shared facilities funded by major high street banks and delivered through Cash Access UK.
They allow customers of multiple banks to access essential services, including cash withdrawals and deposits and in-person support.
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