- Around 200,000 people in London do not have a current or basic bank account.[2]
- 17 per cent of London’s population (around 1.1 million people) are too deeply in debt.[3]
- People with low incomes struggle to access appropriate savings and insurance products.
- The digital transformation of financial services risks leaving some people behind.
Mayor Sadiq Khan has made promoting financial inclusion a priority.[4] The London Assembly Economy Committee will tomorrow discuss what the Mayor, along with the financial services sector and the charitable sector can do to promote and support financial inclusion across London.
How can households be supported to access affordable and appropriate financial services, as well as advice and support? Are more radical options needed to tackle financial exclusion, for example, a community bank for London?[5]
The guests are:
- Professor Sharon Collard, Director of the Personal Finance Research Centre at Bristol University and Member of the Financial Inclusion Commission
- Joan Driscoll, Senior Manager, London Mutual Credit Union
- Sian Williams, Director of the Financial Health Exchange, Toynbee Hall
- Laura Rodrigues, Senior Public Policy Advocate, StepChange
The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 13 September from 2:00pm in The Chamber at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).
Media and members of the public are invited to attend
Social Media:
The meeting can also be viewed LIVE via webcast or YouTube
Follow us and take part in the meeting discussion using #AssemblyEconomy and #AccessToMoney
Notes to editors
- Full agenda papers.
- Family Resources Survey 2016
- A picture of over-indebtedness, Money Advice Service (2017)
- Financial inclusion encompasses: the ability to manage day-to-day financial transactions through appropriate bank accounts, to meet one-off expenses (predictable and unpredictable), to manage loss of earned income and to avoid or reduce problem debt.
- A community bank is based on the model of local banks that operate in Germany and some other European countries. Its remit would be to support households and SMEs that struggle to access mainstream financial services.
- Caroline Russell AM, Chair of the Economy Committee is available for interview. See contact details below.
- London Assembly Economy Committee.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Lisa Lam on 020 7983 4067. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.