Closure of Barclays Bank in Ellesmere Port

A local MP has raised his frustration about bank and post office closures in his constituency in the House of Commons.

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Justin Madders is livid about the closure of Barclays Bank in Ellesmere Port six months after the closure of HSBC Bank on the same town centre Whitby Road.

And he is also annoyed about the potential loss of post offices facilities linked to the closure of McColl’s stores in Great Sutton and the village of Elton.

Calling for a review on the code of practice governing such closures, Mr Madders said: “We need a sustainable, long-term strategy for our high streets that requires big anchor organisations such as banks and post offices to serve their communities.

“Without that, the civic pride that people feel in their high streets will continue to erode and we will all be the poorer for that.”

Mr Madders was speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on ‘Employment and the High Street’ on Wednesday, December 7. He said: “Only last week Barclays Bank announced that it is going to close its branch in Ellesmere Port.

“I am afraid this drive to online services is being used by banks that can frankly afford to keep those branches open. It is part of a wider trend. Barclays made £2 billion profit in the last quarter, so frankly it can afford to keep open every single branch that in recent weeks it announced would close.

“We will now go through a 12-week consultation period that has been described as nothing more than a box-ticking exercise. I am pretty clear Barclays is not going to change its mind. Has any bank ever decided to remain open after announcing its closure?”

Looking back, Mr Madders said: “It was 20 years ago that Barclays closed its branch in Little Sutton. It told us then: ‘It’s not a problem because you can still use the branch in Ellesmere Port.’ Now my constituents will be sent further and further afield.

“HSBC announced it would close its branch in Ellesmere Port back in March. It said: “You can go and use the branch in Bromborough, about five miles away,” but this week it announced it is going to close the Bromborough branch. The cumulative effect is there for all to see. It seems we are powerless to stop this trend and our high streets are the worse for it.”

Turning to post offices, Mr Madders said:  “Some banks say post offices can be used, but we are seeing closure after closure of post offices. In my constituency two have announced their closure in the past couple of months.

“The Post Office’s flawed model means they will reopen only if there is a commercial partner. That means the great likelihood is the people of Great Sutton and Elton will not see those branches reopen.

“The people of Elton have already suffered. They had to wait more than a year for a commercial partner to be found the previous time their branch closed, and the people of Neston had the same problem. 

“The Post Office needs to completely reappraise its responsibility to communities, instead of operating on a completely commercial basis.”

Summing up, Mr Madders said: “We need to draw a line in the sand. Will we continue to accept these closures? Will we continue to accept the decline of the high street?

“Or will we ask these organisations to take a bit more corporate responsibility for their areas, for the communities they are supposed to serve and for people who cannot go online for many understandable reasons?”