I rise to present a petition on behalf of my Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituents. Six years ago, almost to the day, I presented a petition about the Royal Bank of Scotland closing its Renfrew branch, leaving one RBS branch for the entire constituency. Since then, both Santander and TSB have also closed, leaving only the Bank of Scotland. Having completely modernised that branch, we had hoped that it would have been around for a wee while at least, but sadly not as Lloyds has decided to close the Renfrew and Bridge of Weir Bank of Scotland branches, thus leaving a growing town of 26,000 and a village where doing anything without a car is already difficult without a bank.

Nearly 800 people have signed my petition in a short space of time to stop the branch closure. Thanks to Good Food, Card Box, The Co-op in Bridge of Weir and Katie’s Kitchen for helping to collect signatures.

The petition states:

The petition of residents of the constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire North,

Declares that the closure of two Bank of Scotland branches in Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency will have a detrimental impact on the local community;
notes that the decision will leave 70,000 constituents with access to just two bank branches;
further notes that the removal of high street branches exacerbates the inequality of certain groups, such as those in lower incomes, people with disabilities, rural communities, senior citizens and small business owners;
and further declares that all banking groups have a duty to communities to provide in person services thus alleviating barriers to access.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to consider the concerns of the petitioners and take immediate action to ensure that residents in Renfrew and Bridge of Weir have access to a local banking provision.

And the petitioners remain, etc.

[P002944]