House of Lords

23 juillet 2026

Peers question ministers across five policy areas: access to ethical banking for charities, long‑term support for youth and uniformed groups, UK policy on Pakistan‑administered Jammu and Kashmir, fiscal trade‑offs in cutting VAT on electricity, and public safety and victims’ concerns around the prisoner early release scheme and the PC Andrew Harper case.

House of Lords

01:46 - 02:23

Intervenant 4

While the provision of banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, the government believes it is essential that charities and voluntary organisations can access suitable banking services for their needs. The government has worked closely with UK Finance to support non-profit groups' access to finance, developing an interactive account finder tool hosted on its website. Smaller charities may also be eligible to use the current account switch service. I should also declare my interest: I chaired the payments board at UK Finance for several years.

02:23 - 03:11

Intervenant 11

Can I thank my noble friend for his thoughtful and considered reply? Many charities face slow, complicated, and burdensome processes to change registered trustees on their accounts, and according to the Charity Commission, a growing number of charities, particularly but not exclusively those that are Muslim-led, are finding themselves de-banked altogether. Does my noble friend the Minister accept that current money laundering rules and banks' risk avoidance practices are having unintended consequences for charities seeking ethical banking, and will His Majesty's government consider issuing clearer regulatory guidance for the banking sector to ensure that civil society organisations are treated proportionately, fairly, and indiscriminately?

03:11 - 04:22

Intervenant 4

Well, I thank the noble Lord for that easy, holiday-focused question on the last day of term, and I also thank my noble friend Lord Pitt-Watson, who got to this job to the Treasury job too late to take this question. Mine's a gin and tonic, David. We recognise the concerns raised by charities about access to banking services.

The UK's anti-money laundering regime is designed to be risk-based and proportionate, and banks are expected to assess customers on that basis rather than applying blanket approaches. We continue to engage with the banking sector, regulators, and charities to understand these issues and will keep under review whether further guidance is needed to support fair and proportionate treatment of civil society organizations. But just to give my noble friend to share my empathy, the Charity Finance Group 2024 survey said 92% of charities had experienced at least one banking difficulty in the previous two years. That number needs to come down.

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