ROSS McEwen, the Chief Executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, “still has plenty of questions to answer,” insists the SNP, as today he faces a grilling from MPs over the bank’s branch closures’ plan.
The bank boss will appear before the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee alongside a number of his colleagues this morning.
Last December, RBS sparked controversy with its announcement to close 62 branches in Scotland. It said these were necessary due to changes in the way customers accessed banking services, which had resulted in a fall in branch use of around 40 per cent in the last three years.
READ MORE: RBS chief Ross McEwan to be grilled by MPs over branch closures
But in February, following a public and political outcry, the Edinburgh-based bank said 10 of the branches would win a reprieve until the end of the year with the planned closures reviewed to see if there were a significant increase in transactions.
Deidre Brock, the SNP MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, who sits on the committee, said: “RBS still has plenty of questions to answer. The bank is owned by the taxpayer and the chief executive needs to shed light on the decision-making process that is leaving so many communities across Scotland without physical banking services.
READ MORE: Bank closures having 'devastating' impact on local business, retailers tell MSPs
“We need details on the branches that have been saved from the axe after a hard campaign by local communities and the SNP. Those branches are still under threat and we need to know what basis they are being judged on; what will give these communities the peace of mind that they’ll still have a bank.
“We also need to find out why the chance to save branches is limited to just ten locations; we already know that branch closures won’t save money so what is the thinking behind closing them?” asked Ms Brock.
She said the bank branches were hugely important to communities across Scotland; people and businesses depended on them to help keep local economies running.
“The UK Tory Government cannot continue to dismiss their concerns and look the other way while the taxpayer-owned RBS wilfully damages the interests of its shareholders; the taxpayers in these communities,” declared the Nationalist MP.
READ MORE: RBS told to scrap branch closures after bank's first profit in a decade
“The SNP will continue to try to save these banks. It is time that the other parties joined us in that campaign and put pressure on the UK Government to work in Scotland’s interests to force this public company to respect the communities that are in danger of being abandoned,” she added.
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