 Cymru ond hanfodd cyfnod ynw Ymgrifod Llywodraeth neu Llywodraeth yn gyfnod i'r unrhyw festu gennymau. Ar y ystafell, rydyn ni'n amdalwch y ffordd yеждуfer iawn, os byddoedd yn eu cyfnod rydym ni'n gweithio, i fod i'r pan wcwrs a wneud yn ei dda. Diolch yn fawr. favourite businesses this afternoon? I don't have time to extend as I would normally for the amount of speakers that we have here. Ms Forbes, five minutes please. Thank you. We are having this debate because so many people right across Scotland feel powerless, powerless as national banks close branches at a faster rate than ever before, withdrawn from communities and leaving many customers behind. There are so many speakers Felly, we have a responsibility to highlight our constituents concerns despite banking being a reserved matter, despite the Scottish Government having no formal power to intervene. My colleague Ian Blackford R.akes raised that at Prime Minister's questions yesterday and I am pleased to do so today. The recent announcement by RBS to close 62 branches in Scotland is just the latest, That is the most ruthless. It means that there will be only 89 innovative social services of the markets in Scotland on SPYN is open for 392 companies in Scotland compared with the previous generation in April 2013. I believe that they should reverse that decision, not least because in 2008 we collectively bailed out to the Royal Bank of Scotland and we, the taxpayers are still the majority shareholder. The very customers who feel powerless and the very customers who will be most disadvantaged are the very customers whose taxes funded that bailout. But RBS are not the only ones, and no doubt other speakers today will talk about closures by Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale and others. It is the most fragile and vulnerable customers who will suffer most. Although, yes, many people are choosing to bank online or to bank on their phone app, not everybody is, not everybody can and not everybody will, it is the older and vulnerable customers who do not have access to the internet and still visit the local branch on a weekly basis because they trust the staff and they struggle to access services in other ways. Alasdair Allan. On that very point, does the member agree that the Royal Bank of Scotland's initial announcement reassuring people on the island of Barra that they could still use bank and ATM facilities in Loch Boysdale? Some 27 miles away by sea shows that RBS has a complete indifference to the needs of island customers in particular. I agree with the member that it is the communities of remote and rural Scotland badly hit by closures already with unreliable ATMs and patchy broadband that will suffer the most. Take Keil of Luchalsch, for example, where RBS will close the branch. Keil attracts hundreds of visitors during the summer, it has a lot of small businesses and residents and almost three quarters of the population cannot access speeds of up to 10 megabits per second of broadband. Across the highlands, if RBS closures go ahead in six months' time, 26 highland banks' branches will have closed in the last two and a half years. That is 14 RBS branches, 10 Bank of Scotland branches and two Clyde Stale branches. It is also the cash-based businesses operating in a largely cash-based economy like tourism, which is a big growth sector in the highlands that will also struggle. When RBS closes branches in places like Buley in six months' time, it will be closing the last branch in town. There are 13 towns in Scotland where the last bank branch will be going, will be leaving, despite RBS's commitment not to close the last bank in town. What does that mean? Alasdair Allan has already highlighted what it means for his island community. For my communities, it could mean up to an hour and over of travel to a branch. For older people, for businesses that have tight timescales and for customers who cannot rely on public transport for a whole host of reasons. Last week, I visited three of the four RBS branches that are facing closure in my constituency—Buley, Keilivlchalsh and Avymor—and I intend to visit Malig soon. Those closures come swiftly after the Bank of Scotland branch closures in Fortrose, Broadford, Can You See and Buley. I have to finish with this, that there is no doubt that branch staff are doing everything they can to advise and support customers about alternatives, depositing and withdrawing cash at the post office, visiting the mobile branch or accessing the nearest ATM. I was absolutely amazed by the dedication and care of RBS staff in Keil, Buley and Avymor and their managers, whose sole focus at the moment is the customers that they have known for years. They did not make those decisions, but they are the ones who take the flack and see the customers who are anxious and worried. For those customers who are concerned—I close on this—I recommend that you pop into your branch as soon as possible to speak to a member of staff. I call on RBS to reconsider its decision to close the branches for the sake of the people of Keil, Malig, Buley, Avymor and across communities in Scotland. I remind all those who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons and remove to the open debate speeches of absolutely no more than one and a half minutes. I call Edward Mountain to be followed by Richard Lyle. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you, Kate Forbes, for bringing this debate. The Royal Bank of Scotland decision to close 62 branches in Scotland has been met with justified anger, and frankly it is no wonder. Back in 2009, the RBS boasted that it was here for you wherever you may live, but it appears that that is not now the case. When the going got tough for the RBS, the taxpayer did not desert the bank. They rescued it, and in return the RBS has been promising to maintain branches across the country. Now the RBS is deserting rural Scotland, and the highlands, as Kate Forbes has eloquently put, will be one of the hardest areas hit. If the RBS does not back down from those closures, there will be a real threat to the high streets in the highlands and rural businesses such as tourism. Let us not pretend that it will be anything else but that. Branches with their ATMs are closing, as Kate Forbes said, in Cyle, Malig, Nairn, Avymor, Buley, Granton, Inverness, Tain, Tung and Wick. Customers and businesses need the reassurance of a local branch alongside the first-class digital service that they get if they can get it, but in areas across the highlands the broadband is so poor that digital banking is just a dream. It is clear that not enough thought has been put into this decision to close local branches, and I urge the RBS to reconsider. I call upon the RBS to stand by its customers, the very customers that stood by them in the hard times that they faced. Richard Lyle, followed by Richard Leonard. First, I refer members to my register of interests. I am an ex-employee of the Royal Bank and receive a monthly pension from the bank. I thank Kate Forbes for bringing the debate to the chamber today. I joined Royal Scott financial services in 1990. The company dealt with financial services as part of the Royal Bank of Companies. When I joined the Royal Bank, the share price was a pound. Over the years, the share price of RBS climbed and climbed and climbed. It made what some would say extortionate profits. The bank wanted to make a £2 billion profit to fit in with the year 2000. It did. It made the profit and went on to make between £6 billion and £12 billion profits in the early part of this century. It was heady days, and the share price finally reached £20 per share. Buying other banks was a downfall of the Royal Bank. The share price fell like a stone and reached, I believe, £10 per share at its lowest. I blame the stock market and certain people who should have known better for the bank's downfall, but customers should not pay for their mistakes. RBS promised that there will always be a local branch in the high street. RBS is making many of their loyal staff redundant. In my constituency, there are closing two branches. RBS said that because it is following footfall, sorry, I would dispute your figures. Most people do want to get into their local branch, most people cannot deal with apps or new technology, some people are dinosaurs. It should be a bank that cares, look out RBS, you went a step too far. Belsol previously had four banks in its main street. That proposed closure will leave us with one. I thank Kate Bortfors for bringing this matter to the chamber today. Richard Leonard, followed by Kenneth Gibson. The people owner controlling majority stake in RBS, and if RBS bosses will not listen to reason and pull back from those closures, and if the Tory chancellor, Philip Hammond, will not intervene to stop them, we must mobilise the people. On 8 December, I wrote to the chancellor, requesting that he steps in and calls a halt to this social and economic vandalism. Earlier this week, I held discussions with the shadow chancellor, John MacDonald. We discussed the red book from last month's autumn budget statement. It makes grim reading. Growth figures were significantly revised down, but worse, I can reveal today that hidden away in the public finance section of that red book, the Tory chancellor now has his sights on the Royal Bank of Scotland being sold off. Because of the downgrading of the economic growth forecast, Philip Hammond is proposing to fix public sector net borrowing by selling off RBS at a bargain basement price. This afternoon, from this Parliament, I call on the Scottish Government and the Scottish Conservatives to stand up for Scotland. Call on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, not to sell off the RBS. Call on Philip Hammond to veto the closure of those bank branches across Scotland and let's step up the campaign, because in the end, if we own RBS, we the people ought to control RBS. Kenneth Gibson, followed by Matt Ruskell. I congratulate Kate Forbes on securing this debate. The latest round of RBS closures is not just a bloat in North Ayrshire's people, businesses and communities, but rather the latest insult demonstrating the sheer contempt that RBS has for its customers and branch staff. Kilburnyn sawcoats will join already closed to Ryan West Kilbride, leaving only Brodick and Largs RBS branches in my constituency. It seems that RBS had no intention of fulfilling their much-trumpeted promise not to close the last remaining bank in our community, and I'm annoyed that loyal customers were used as a prop in what appears to be an elaborate PR stunt. Closure of the 62 Scottish branch buildings will raise just 8.7 million acorn at the Sunday Mail, if sold at all. As we know, empty bank buildings are many of our high streets, and even if we realise that this is still much less than the eye-watering £16 million bonuses paid to RBS executives this year by the £11 million sponsorship of Scottish Rugby by RBS, that would be shocking enough for many high street bank, but even more galling from RBS, 72.9 per cent owned by the UK taxpayer. Understandably, people are looking for answers and recognition of their investment. Of course, that decision was provoked by mobile and online banking being promoted, but it's incredibly short-sighted to assume that this meets the needs of customers. When challenged, RBS pointed to the mobile branches as a final word in rural and semi-rural banking, yet across the air, many complained about the inaccessibility of mobile banks that require customers to climb four high steps. It's appalling that wheelchair users are expected to conduct their business outside the van in all weithers, and RBS refuses to change to even meet and engage with campaigners. That decision, as final RBS says, and more job closers and job cuts could be on the way, is totally unacceptable. On behalf of constituency herds of Westminster Government to exercise its majority shareholding and force RBS to engage with staff and local communities, no-one should be left behind because of RBS's appalling actions. I just say that, if people go over time, it may disadvantage other people. Can we please have Mark Ruskell followed by Mary Gougeon? I thank Kate Forbes for galvanising Parliament today. Nine of those bank closers will take place in my region. Branches in Aberfeldy, Alloa, Bannockburn, Bridgervall and Cymru, Dunblane, Kinross, Perth and Pitlockery are all scheduled to shut. The Korean newspaper has highlighted that this is the latest in a long line of closures to hit communities, with RBS branches in Lochgelly and Dalgetty Bay, of course, shutting earlier this year. In Dunblane, Bridgervall and My Green Collie councillor Tomash has been working with both community councils, and public meetings have been arranged for the new year in the hope of retaining at least some services. RBS stated that they would never close the last bank in town, but it is clear that that is exactly what they are doing. No amount of coothy marketing campaigns proclaiming that we are with you every day will change the fact that they are abandoning communities to a computer server in Gogeburn. RBS says that services can be accessed at post offices, but they are becoming scarce too, with over a quarter closing since 2002. A weekly mobile banking service does not offer security for cash-based businesses who require to make daily deposits. There could be serious insurance implications for those businesses too, a point that I would quite like the minister to reflect on in closing. It is time for the UK Government to use its decisive share in RBS to deliver a network that is fit for Scotland's communities and people in the 21st century. Mary Gougeon, followed by Mike Trumbles. Thank you and my sincere thanks to Kate Forbes for bringing forward this debate today and allowing all members here to vent their frustrations at what is yet another disgraceful set of closures by a bank that will hit all our constituencies and the communities within them hard. I, like many others here, was angry and appalled to hear the news two weeks ago that RBS was set to close a branch in my constituency, this time in Montrose. One closure, but one closure that comes straight on the back of three RBS closures over the past two years across Breachan, Stonehaven and Lawrence Kirk, and fresh on the back of Clydesdale bank closures, which saw three out of the four in my constituency close, again affecting Breachan, Stonehaven and Forfer. I have been inundated by angry and seriously concerned constituents, those who work with people with learning disabilities, those who work with the elderly, the elderly themselves, people who are dependent on public transport, those affected by the last round of closures and have been redirected from all parts of the north-east of Scotland to the Montrose branch, which is now set to close. RBS expects people to use the post office or their mobile bank, putting more pressure on the post office who are expected to pick up their slack, as well as the slack of the other banks who have abandoned their communities, and mobile banks, where there is a severe lack of accessibility for those with mobility problems, where you cannot access the full range of services and where there is only a limited time in each of the locations that they serve. All of that at a time when RBS is expected to shell out millions upon millions in bonuses, well, enough is enough. We the people in here and out there own over 70 per cent of this bank, RBS therefore have a duty to work in the public interest and we demand that they do that by reversing that decision and keeping the branches open. Mike Rumbles, followed by Jenny Gilruth. I live seven miles north of the village of Afford in rural Aberdeenshire and use the RBS branch there. When the bank announced the closure of the branch in September 2015, they recommended that I move my business to their branch in West Hill some 19 miles away. It was in actual fact 26 miles from my home. I declined to do that, but I know that many of the afford RBS customers did and the nearest other RBS branch was in Huntley some 21 miles north of Afford. Then last October, RBS announced it was closing its West Hill branch. Yes, the one customers had just been advised to move all their accounts to. Never mind, we did have the Huntley branch staying open just as I say, some 21 miles north of Afford. Would you believe it again? RBS having their latest round of branch closures decided in their wisdom to close the Huntley branch too. RBS has taken the decision on branch closures in isolation. They are a business after all and they are in the business of making a profit. However, I would simply ask RBS and indeed the other banks to think outside the box, solutions, that is what we need. They could still make a profit and provide a service to our rural communities by working together. Now, isn't that novel? Even with their competitors in a community hub, with facilities, local people could access with greater ease. If the banks continue to work in silos, we could see them all withdraw their services from our towns and villages and that way lies disaster. Minister, I would say to the minister, could we get the banks, could you knock their heads together so that they could actually co-operate together to save the services and keep a profit for themselves? It is a win-win situation. Jenny Gilruth, to be followed by Rachel Hamilton. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I begin by congratulating my friend and colleague Kate Forbes on securing today's debate. Time is limited today, therefore I will focus my time on the closure of RBS, the RBS branch in Leven. I could talk about 2014. No, I do not mean that. I mean Mark Inch, I mean London Lynx and I mean Thornton, each with populations of roughly 2,000 people each who RBS left behind. Let's not kid ourselves here. RBS has been closing branches in swathes for years, but it sticks in the cross somewhat in 2017. The same year, the bank recorded an £871 million profit in the third quarter of this year. Merry Christmas to the shareholders. In my constituency, the Leven branch shut its doors on 3 October. There was no consultation. I found out about it and about the replacement mobile banking service via email. The bank now visits Leven three times a week, but the sum total of opening hours is just a shocking four and a half hours. All timeslots fall within the hours of a normal working day. Two fall across the morning period, and one is over lunch. Additionally, as has previously been said by my friend Mary Gougeon, mobile banks are not accessible. I do not think that it coincidental that, within weeks of RBS announcing that it was shutting shop and the Clyde deal bank doing likewise, WH Smith shut up too. Leven High Street is just a mirror image of every other town across Scotland, as we have heard today. Once the banks go, shops close, and then what? RBS claimed that it had to shut the Leven branch because of footfall, but it could not give my office its figures for the months before it closed. My constituents are being let down by a bank that they own and that the UK Government has watched its hands of. It is not good enough. I stand with colleagues today across the chamber in demanding a royal bank for Scotland, not its shareholders. Rachael Hamilton, followed by Colin Smyth. News that RBS has decided to shut 62 branches is devastating, and as Kate Forbes highlights, rural areas will be hit the hardest. The Scottish borders will see significant detrimental impact. It is disappointing that those in rural areas have seemingly been forgotten in this decision. Banks have a moral obligation to ensure continued access to service, especially for older or vulnerable residents. Clearly, RBS is not living up to that obligation. The borders are up in arms. Only three years ago, the bank shut its branches in Chernside, Greenlaw and Newtown St Boswells. Closure's forecast for Selkirk, Duns, Eymouth, Hoik, Jebber and Melrose will cause further disruption and woe. Those who cannot or would prefer not to digitally bank now have to find another way to get to the bank. Once on their doorstep, now miles away. In the borders where broadband is slow, digital banking is not as easy as some would suggest. Of course, not everyone can drive, and that is why many retire to towns in order to access services easily. Previous closures in the borders have already impacted on the high streets. Constituents in Hoik now face a 40-mile round-trip to their nearest bank. Furthermore, the post office or mobile bank is no substitute for a bank teller. Traders are now expected to shut shop to get their banking, damaging their business productivity and lessening open hours. On small business Saturday, I spoke with traders and shoppers on the high street in Jed, who told me how shocked they were that the news that RBS is shutting. And a constituent in coldstream last week pleaded with me to contact their ATM provider as one was out of order and the other hadn't been topped up with cash. And this is what we are now facing. I really hope that RBS reconsider their closures. Colin Smyth, followed by Stuart Stevenson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Kate Forbes for her motion. Nearly a quarter of the latest RBS closures come in the south of Scotland. Communities in Anangretna, Llangham and Lockerbyn, Dumfries and Galloway, Biggar, Canwith and Douglas in South Lanarkshire, Dunbar in North Berwick in East Lothian, Duns, Imouth, Hoi, Jedbarer, Melrose and Selkirk in the Scottish Borders and Penicourt in Midlothian will all see their branches axed by RBS. That's less than a year since the closure of branches in Newton, Stuart and Dumfries and Galloway, as well as Cymde, Mockland, Preswick, Trun and Gervant in Ayrshire. Presiding Officer, across south Scotland, our towns and villages are being left without a single bank branch, despite a previous commitment by RBS not to close a branch if it's the last bank in town. Of course, misleading public, the public is what RBS do. Recently, RBS business customers in Llangham received a letter from their bank, which appeared to hint at the closure of the local branch. When challenged on this issue, they denied that it would happen, yet weeks later, closure is exactly what they've announced. RBS say that they will try to avoid compulsory redundancies during the latest closures, but the reality is that the scale of those closures is such that loyal, hard-working staff are being left with no reasonable relocation options. With 165 jobs on the line and the UK Government-owned RBS, how did the Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, initially respond to the news, he got his photo taken outside RBS and bigger. Staffing customers don't need sympathetic words and photo calls, they need direct intervention by the UK Government to stop those closures now, and we need legislation from the UK Government to ensure that a branch is the last in town and there can be no closure without full consultation with customers. The final decision is being made not by the bank itself, but by the financial conduct authority. Stuart Stevenson, followed by Brian Whittle. I draw members' attention to my register of interests. I start by reminding banks that they do not stand apart from wider society, they exist to serve it and depend on its support for their continued existence and for their special privileges. Bank of Scotland opened its doors in 1695 and drew a probrium in 1715, when it was bored back to Jacobite Rebellion, leading to the foundation of the Hanoverian Royal Bank. That nearly closed the Bank of Scotland. Today, the Royal Bank and others, removing branch-based services from communities across Scotland, in particular in Banff and Mike, says that there is a significant risk to some banks' future success. Banks should set aside short-term financial targets to ensure their long-term survival. They can do so by re-earning the trust and support of local people, by being part of communities through a meaningful physical presence in communities. In 1826, the Bank of Scotland manager in Cercodi, angered customer David Landell, was challenged to a duo, accepted the challenge and lost. The bank lost a manager and could not even take possession of the gun that killed him. Follow your customers at your peril. Today's gun level at the bank merely is metaphorical but could be just as deadly. I call on Brian Whittle to be followed by Rhoda Grant. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I can also thank Kate Forbes for bringing this debate to the chamber. It has been highlighted already in the chamber today that those bank closures have a hugely detrimental effect on communities across the country, especially in the more rural towns in my area, such as Cymruc, Mochland and Governe. Moreover, it will disproportionately affect those who are most vulnerable, such as the elderly. In Governe, for instance, I heard from Age Concern, who will have to travel often by public transport to either Ayr or Stranraer, which takes hours. While we rightly call out those banks and lobby against those bank closures, I suggest that it is also important that we engage with the banks to try and develop solutions on the ground in the communities that are affected. For example, in Governe, when Age Concern highlighted their concern around the use of technology, I contacted RBS, who sent somebody along to a workshop and continued to do so with the Age Concern to try to address those concerns. Also, the route that the mobile banks are currently taking and their accessibility are under review in my area following feedback from constituents, and that has been passed on to the bank. Although it is absolutely right that we put as much pressure on the banks against those closures, I encourage members to engage with the banks to look at practical solutions that are available to try and mitigate the worst of those cuts while we continue to put the utmost pressure to bear from this place. My apologies. It is Claire Baker next to be followed by Fulton MacGregor. Thank you. The widespread bank closures are today facing a lot of criticism. Within my own region, the recent announcement of further RBS closures will rip local banking out of the heart of those communities. Villages and towns such as Comrake and Ross Allawa will now join Cowdenbeath, Burnt Island and Leven and have their branches closed and access to banking services restricted. 26 branches across all banks have closed already this year alone across my region. The banks argue that, as more people use online banking services, the branches are no longer viable, but many people rely on these banks, the elderly and the technology poor. Even if you are online, there are significant digital access challenges with broadband, connection speeds and Aberfeldy, Comrake and Ross and Pitlock rate in the bottom 20 per cent in the UK for download speed. There is also an assumption that people who use online banking no longer need a convenient branch, which is just not true. People still need to deposit cash, particularly those running small businesses. I spoke to a local solicitor this week who needs to deposit checks, for example, within a time pressure, and that will be extremely difficult for him, as there are only four branches off his bank that are left in the whole of Fife. People want to discuss their financial arrangements, whether it is loans, mortgages and savings, and have decisions made locally. We need to find a solution that ensures access to essential banking services. We cannot allow banking to be decimated across the country and there must be alternatives to that direction. Widespread bank closures only risk customer dissatisfaction and put unreasonable strain on bank employees, RBS and other high street banks to recognise the strength of public feeling and rethink those closures. Fulton MacGregor, followed by Gordon Lindhurst. I thank Kate Forbes as others have done. I echo what others have said by stating how disappointed I am that RBS has taken this decision to close 62 branches across Scotland. I am, however, grateful that the Coatbridge branch is not one of those, and I do not think that Coatbridge high street could take any more pain. Several high street bank closures already, the DWP ruthlessly moving hundreds of staff out of their town centre operation, among other factors, has led to me pulling together a stakeholder's group to work with the council and local business owners to try and desperately save their town centre. I thank the minister for his answers yesterday. However, in the time that I have today, I want to talk about the branch in my constituency that is closing in its steps. That is literally the last bank in town, but not just the last bank for that one town. Residents who currently use the steps branch will need to travel over three miles to Kirkntillock for their closest high street bank. Users will not just be from steps, but the surrounding villages of Crescent, Moody's Burn and Orkin Walk. For the elderly, disabled, those without their own transport and those in poverty, that is a real ardy challenge, and I urge RBS to consider all their customers' needs before taking this action. Those very people are also the ones who are most unlikely to know that their branch is closing. For example, on the day that the announcement was made, I went over to show my support to the staff. There was a queue of customers forming, mainly elderly, and I actually overheard them saying, oh, have you heard that the branch in Airdrie is closing, oblivious to the Airdrie One closing? I am sure that Alex Neil will pick that up in his speech. It went under the radar in steps, and that is why I have taken every opportunity that I can to raise it. Gordon Lindhurst, followed by Rhoda Grant. Deputy Presiding Officer, it gives me no pleasure to speak in this very important debate, and what I have to say echoes much of what has been said by others across the chamber. I have raised the issue in this Parliament a number of times, bank closures in Juniper Green and Bolerno in Lothian region. Yet again, it appears that elderly and disabled customers and others have been forgotten in the latest round of planned RBS closures. Banks appear to assume that their preferred option for banking, online platforms, will solve the problems of access to banking for everyone. They will not. That includes the RBS in Lynlithgow. An elderly resident of Lynlithgow told me about her upset at the RBS closure this past week. At least there is still the Bank of Scotland that I can go to, she said in a resigned fashion. At least one bank left for now, because within the week Santander also announced closure of its Lynlithgow branch, leaving both it and RBS with only two branches each in the whole of West Lothian. The Clyde Steel Bank branch in Lynlithgow that I used as a customer myself closed several years ago. I have, of course, sat with bank representatives discussing spreadsheets on branch usage and reams of statistics, showing how many or how few people use or don't use whichever particular branch is set for closure at that point in time. What they completely miss, in my view, is any attempt to provide an alternative plan for the way forward, whether on their own or in conjunction with other banks. I close with this point, and many, many points could be made. I echo what Mike Rumbles has said, which is that banks are not, in the same positions, ordinary private companies, least of all RBS. They are underwritten by the taxpayers who guarantee the deposits in their accounts. What is their plan for future provision of services to those people? I really have stopped with the aim, Mr Linton. Rhoda Grant, to be followed by Gillian Martin. Can I also congratulate Kate Forbes for securing the debate? Those closures will have a devastating impact on all of Scotland, but especially in the highlands and islands where 13 of those branches will close. The justification for those closures is cynical. We have the worst broadband in Scotland and indeed the UK, and therefore the ability to bank online is a distant dream rather than a reality. Possibly the worst of those proposals is the closure of the branch in Castle Bay. That means that people will have an over 20-mile drive and a ferry to catch to get to the bank and then they need to try and get back home again. It will probably mean that it will take the best part of a day for them to access the bank, not to mention the added cost of that. Added to that, it is the place where my constituents have some of the worst problems accessing broadband. What if the elderly people who cannot make the ferry journey to get their pension? While we are rightly concentrating on service provision, we must not forget the staff who work at those branches. They are losing their jobs because the distance that they would have to travel to an alternative branch would make relocation impossible. Neither do they have a hope of gaining a similar job because those are few and far between in rural communities. Those closures are being directed by the banks that we bailed out. The people making those decisions owe their own jobs to the communities that are now riding roughshod over it. It has to stop. The Westminster Government must intervene on behalf of us, the shareholders. Those banks belong to the people, they must make the people their priority. Gillian Martin, followed by Maurice Corry. My constituency, RBS, has announced plans to close branches in the towns of Elin and Tariff. Incredibly disappointing for local residents and businesses, we will now have to travel further to do their banking. Of course, closures like that help the elderly the most, but this morning I was contacted by 20-year-old Hannah Mackay, who is a student nurse and Tariff brownie leader, and she put the travel issue into context. She works 12-hour shifts and on her days off she does the banking for the brownie pack, involves many checks and cash. If RBS closes, she will have to travel 16 miles to Maud, where the only bus would get her 15 minutes before the branch closes, and there is not another bus for over three hours to get her back home. She is not hopeful that a visiting mobile van will ever be of any use to her given her shift pattern. Earlier this week, I met with the Tariff Business Association 60 businesses from across all sectors, and they have started a petition calling for the decision for RBS to be reversed. I have signed a petition and I fully support them and urge people in Tariff to give them their support as well, but I am very cynical about the effectiveness of that, because I was there myself in mint law earlier this year with councillor Jim Ingram trying to get Clydesdale bank to reverse their decision to close their branch there, the only bank in town where we are unsuccessful and we were only able to save an ATM. The public bailed out RBS in the banking crisis, and it is a duty to support residents who benefit from the local service. I urge the UK Government not to turn a blind eye and dismiss this as a commercial decision, as the MP for Gordon Colin Clark has done when he replied to me about the Ellen RBS closure. It is always rural towns that suffer the most when decisions like this are made. Maurice Corry, followed by Tom Arthur. I thank Kate Forbes for bringing this issue to the members' debate today, and it is very important that it is too. Banks provide a vital important service within our communities and most notable within the smaller towns and villages. The demographic of an area has a large part to play in the importance of retaining local bank branches with more elderly people and small businesses needing access to the local bank branches within the more rural areas and towns. Those people who visit branches do so regularly and need them for more pacific requirements. Recently, there have been a number of closures of various banks. In my region, it has included the Clydefield bank in Bersden and Helensburgh, Barclays of Closendon Barton and the RBS of Closendon Alexandria. Without the ability of residents to perform branch banking, it provides a notable and avoidable inconvenience and a potentially dangerous or harmful situation for more elderly and vulnerable people within our society in danger of community safety. With bank branches continuing to close, it forces people to withdraw cash in a less secure environment. In conclusion, I realise that internet banking is becoming much more popular, but there are still leaves many not using it and, in fact, as much as 50 per cent. Branches form an important part of our communities, and I implore the RBS directors to give that extremely serious consideration. Tom Arthur, followed by Ian Gray. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Let me begin by also thanking Kate Forbes for securing this debate. We have heard much talk about the last bank in town, and Renfrewshire South was down to the last bank in the constituency. We lost the RBS in Loch Winock in 2014 and we lost the RBS in Barhead last year as well. To add to that, we lost Clyde Steel in Johnson. We now have one RBS serving the whole of the Renfrewshire South constituency. This is not the first time a member of the Scottish Parliament for Renfrewshire South has had to raise that. My predecessor, Hugh Henry, in the members' debates that were secured by Neil Findlay three years ago, raised the very same issue. I thought that it was telling how he opened his speech. He said, to quote Ross McEwing, "...we need the chief executive of the RBS, we need to remember and then never forget that the customer is why we are in business." I think that, certainly for Mr McEwing, who the FT reports received the payment of £7 million last week, he is certainly in business. There has been a great deal of talk about the RBS, about people moving on to alternative platforms for banking, mobile banking and digital online. That is very well enabled. I will point to numbers of decreased input fault in the shops, but who are the people still going to use for local bank? That is not captured, because that is a policy that has been put together. It is a decision that seems to be predicated on the dead-eye dogma of bean counters, with absolutely no cognisance whatsoever for the needs of society. That is the wrong move that, as Stewart Stevenson very eloquently highlighted, banks have a social responsibility as well, and it is time that RBS, taxpayer-owned RBS, remembered that. Iain Gray, followed by Bruce Crawford. My thanks to Kate Forbes for obtaining the debate. I wish to use it to add on to the record the closure of RBS branches in Dunbar. To add to the record the closure of RBS branches in Dunbar and North Berwick in my constituency and to register the anger of my constituents in those towns at a bank to which many have shown loyalty over many years or even decades treating them so shabbily. It is not the first time that just over a year ago RBS closed their branch in pressing pans, leaving that town with no bank branch at all, while Bank of Scotland has done the same thing to Gillan. All of those branches are busy. Only a few days ago, I was told of queues out the door in North Berwick, and that was true of pressing pans a year ago as well, but still it was closed. Indeed, my constituents' experience of those branches jars with the picture RBS paints have deserted facilities shunned by switched on online customers. What jars too is the bank's PR and advertising image of a bank that serves customers and communities while it deserts so many of them and responds to their protests with contempt. What jars most of all is exactly how those banks looked to the public to save them when their own greed almost consumed them, and now they treat us with contempt. Those closures are not new, but they should be the straw that breaks the camel's back this time. We must find a way to stop them. Bruce Crawford, followed by Neil Findlay. My thanks to Kate Forbes and well done for bringing this before us today. The closure of RBS, Bannockburn, will create real challenges for that community, particularly elderly. That branch covers Bannockburn, Hill Park, Plain, Coway and Throsk, as well as Fallin. However, it does not have to be that way. Yesterday, during First Prime Minister's question, Theresa May brushed off calls to intervene on RBS closures, citing them as commercial decisions. The UK Government owns 73 per cent of RBS. The treasury has over 70 per cent voting rights. The influence is there, and our communities need the UK Government to use it. Those same RBS customers are the same taxpayers who bailed out the banks by billions of pounds. They helped to save it. Is this how they are to be treated? I say to the Tory Government that it is simply not just a commercial decision, it is a social travesty. You have the power. This bank was saved by taking money from the pockets of ordinary people. The UK Government owes those people a debt. It is time to start paying it back and stop them now. Neil Findlay, followed by Alec Neill. I have been on RBS's case for a long time. We have now just got two branches left in West Lothian, one in Midlothian and several in Edinburgh have closed, leaving vacant buildings on the high street. I have asked for meetings with the very well-remunirated Ross McEwn. He has refused. I have asked him to stop closures. I have asked him to hand over the buildings to the community and set up a legacy fund. He refused. Let me tell you why he refused those last two points. He said, and listen to this, that we have to secure the best return for shareholders. This is the bank that has fined £3.1 billion for mortgage misselling, £14.5 million for having poor mortgage records, £5.6 million for reporting failures, £56 million for computer failures, £5.6 million for failure-to-screen customers, £2.8 million for failing to handle complaints. He had to put aside £391 million for labour rate rigging, £1.3 billion to deal with repayments for businesses' missile products and £3.25 billion for PPI misselling. How is that value for shareholders, Mr McEwn? I have to ask you today. Let us not take any of their garbage about value for money for shareholders. They could hand every single building over to the community and give them £100,000, £200,000 or £1 million with every building and still it would not reach the value of the fines that they have had to pay out on our behalf as the shale hoarders. It is a disgrace, that is what they are. Every one of us should ask Mr McEwn for a meeting. He does not want to get out of his bunker. The last of the open debate speakers is Alex Neil. Thank you very much indeed, Deputy Presiding Officer. Again, can I congratulate Kate Forbes in getting the debate and in an excellent introductory speech? One of the things that is very obvious already, Presiding Officer, is that, despite all her protestations, the Royal Bank has no intention at the moment of changing its mind on any of the proposed closures. That is a totally outrageous situation. We have all sought meetings with Ross McEwn and other senior people in the bank. I have a suggestion to make, Presiding Officer. I think that all the people who have taken part in this debate should seek a joint meeting with Ross McEwn and get colleagues who want to join us and let them say no to the Scottish Parliament as a corporate body, not to pick us off as individuals. It is high time that those banks and those big corporations accept that they have a social responsibility as corporations and, particularly, corporations that are in the public sector have a special responsibility to the communities and their shareholders. In my constituency, the RBS shut its shots branch last year. The building is still sitting empty. It has refused to hand it over to the community, and now it is going to close the Erdie branch. It does not care about those communities. Despite all the adverts and the propaganda, it is doing nothing for us. I say, Presiding Officer, that let us get together, cross-party, cross-parliament, as one delegation and demand a meeting with McEwn. In order to allow the ministers to respond to this debate, I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by a short time. May I ask Kate Forbes to move a motion without notice? I move. The question is that the debate be extended. Are we all agreed? I am sure that the minister is quite relieved at that. I thank Kate Forbes for raising today's motion. I appreciate greatly that Ms Forbes and many other members have sincerely felt genuine concerns, as has been demonstrated today, over the Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement that 62 branches are to close. Not only in Ms Forbes's constituency, but across the whole of Scotland, as we have been hearing. Indeed, in my own patch, as Rachel Hamilton has said, six of the eight branches in the Scottish Borders are to close. Kate Forbes is correct to identify that the UK Government retains legislative and regulatory responsibility for banking and financial services, and, as a number of members have said, is the majority shareholder in RBS. Indeed, Kenny Gibson and Kate Forbes have made that point strongly, as has Alex Neil in his powerful speech. However, the Scottish Government stands ready to work with UK ministers, the bank and other stakeholders to support and reassure customers in light of those plan closures. That is not to say that we are happy with the closures and, in my first preference, Cooley, the Government's first preference for those branches to stay open, and I very much hear the comments that have been made today. Concerns have been raised about the impact of branch closures in our local communities. Those closures will be a body blow to many communities across Scotland, leaving many areas with significantly reduced branch coverage and, indeed, the availability of banking services. Mike Rumbles A genuine question that I raise on that point. Could you, as minister, not get together with all the banks that service in Scotland and get them to the heads together? Because those decisions have been taken by each bank in isolation to each other, and they need to work together? Paul Wheelhouse I was planning to address that, but I will take that point head on now, because Mr Rumbles has fairly raised it. I would want to reassure Mr Rumbles, and all members in the chamber, indeed, that Mr Whittle made a similar point here about trying to find practical solutions. I just want to reassure Mr Rumbles and others that we are engaging the RBS on that we are not just accepting that the bank is going to pull out and leave nothing behind, and we are trying to liaise with the bank about what they can do as a legacy if branches are to close. I repeat the point that I would rather they did not, but if the article is to find a practical solution and the point that Mr Rumbles raised about thinking about a community hub, it is something that we have already raised with RBS about how to use the States. I was aware of Mr Finlay's previous point if I may. Neil Findlay I wonder if the minister would help members by agreeing that no minister will facilitate or any member will facilitate any corporate functions in his building for RBS until they come to the table and have discussions with members about what they are up to. Paul Wheelhouse As the member knows, I hear the point that Mr Finlay raised, and I am very much aware of his long-standing interest in this issue. I do not govern what happens in the Scottish Parliament, should the Presiding Officer be the first to say that. I take the point entirely. We are trying to make the point to RBS that there is a reputational issue here that they are suffering in the Court of Public Opinion. They are suffering in the Court of this Chamber's opinion as well, and I am sure that it is not lost in them the strength of feeling that we have heard today. In our view, the UK Government should not be a passive bystander if we have made that point. We believe that it should take immediate action to defend customers and ensure that communities—in particular, the most vulnerable members of those communities—are very powerfully made by Marie Gougeon, who made the point about those with learning disabilities in particular. Those communities need to be protected and to have access to day-to-day banking services. We understand that many customers are now choosing to access banking services in different ways, but, as many members have said today, that is not true for all customers. Many customers for whom it is quite frightening to go online because they hear stories of online fraud and other issues, and they need reassurance. We know that services do not yet meet the needs of all customers, and for some time to come, banks must continue to offer services to all customers in a way that suits those needs. There are often sensitive issues that need to be discussed in the context of a bank about bereavement, redundancy and other matters. You would not want to be standing in a queue at a post office waiting for someone behind you to get stance while talking to someone over the counter, but something is very sensitive. Clearly, face-to-face contact in a private space is still a core part of what banking services need to provide. Last week, I spoke with Stephen Barkley, the economy secretary, to the Treasury to press the case for a guaranteed level of access to essential banking services. We recognise that commercial decisions are taken, but where regulation is in place, that creates a level playing field, and it also provides the context in which those commercial decisions are made. We believe that there is a role for regulating to ensure that there is a minimum standard of banking services left when banks do close branches. The UK Government has made clear that, unfortunately, it will not, despite having a majority stake in the Royal Bank, exercise its influence at this time, and it might need to be pressured to do more on that front. I recognise the support of the Conservative members of the chamber for taking action on that. I appreciate that RBS does not and must operate on a commercial basis, but, as we say, we believe that there is a role for regulation here. We also believe that the UK Government should ensure that robust alternative options are in place before it allows those closures to take place. We are prepared to play our part in that. We are not expecting entirely to fall to others, but I acknowledge the work that banks are doing with post office to expand services that are available to their customers through the network. However, as a number of members have said, post office is able to offer a basic banking service. Businesses in particular have concerns over cash deposits, with a barrier that most post offices are only able to offer up to £2,000 worth of cash being deposited at any one time, which is a real barrier for those businesses and tourism-located businesses that are in rural areas such as Cape Forb's own constituency. They will face real challenges if the majority of their trade is conducted in cash. I spoke with senior RBS staff on Friday 1 December, immediately following the banks announcement. I spoke again to the bank yesterday, Simon Watson, who is the head of retail banking, and asked the bank to give further consideration to support that will provide to customers affected by those closures. I welcome the commitment to provide training and support to customers in setting up and using digital services. There is more that I can say on that, but not yet liberty to do so. In some areas, however, there will continue to be challenges in digital access. A number of members have raised that, and I have urged Royal Bank to take that into account, because I do not believe that it has been sufficiently taken into account to date. Not least, the difficulties in accessing reliable Wi-Fi or 4G service in large parts of rural Scotland, and indeed urban Scotland. RBS maintains that it has made changes to its mobile banking fleet to allow it to serve a greater range of locations. Jenny Gilruth and others have raised legitimate concerns about the availability of those mobile banking units at convenient times for customers. That is again something that we urge the Royal Bank to take on board. I agree very much with the remarks that have been said today. I have also asked the bank to give further thought to the future, as I said to Mike Rumbles, of the branches that are to close. We believe that there is room for collaboration between not just RBS but other banks, IFAs, tax advisers and others, potentially, to provide a hub that should provide a step change and maybe the availability of financial advice to members of the community. There could be a good opportunity to come out of that, but I want permission from the rising officers to say something about staff, because I do not want to leave the debate without saying something of that. The plan closures, as a number of said, affect the bank's customers and their staff. I had a very constructive meeting this week with representatives of Unite to discuss the impact of those closures on their members. I agree wholeheartedly with Kate Forbes' praise of the staff and how they are handling this and supporting customers at a difficult time. The bank has indicated up to 160 jobs at a risk as a result of those announcements, but that is in full-time equivalent terms. Because of the nature of the part-time employment in the banks, there is potentially a Unite estimate that up to 350 people will be affected by the redundancy programme and the potential for voluntary redundancy options. As Rhoda Grant has said, there is a real practical difficulty for those in remote rural locations. They will have no alternative RBS site that is perhaps practical for them with caring responsibilities or other geographic barriers to reach them. Unite have made it clear that they are also concerned about the impact of those closures on communities and we will work closely with Unite. In conclusion, as members have done today, I urge RBS to listen to what is being said today and reflect on the remarks. Work with us where it can do so to try to provide a long-term solution to those communities affected by the closure of the last branch in town. We are certainly on record today that we are appetite to do that and to help those communities, the staff who are affected and RBS itself to come out of that with a better reputation and the risk at this moment in time. Thank you very much. That concludes the debate. Can I ask members to clear the chamber quickly please to allow it to be prepared for this afternoon? This meeting is suspended until 2 o'clock.