House of Commons Treasury Committee report on the financial inclusion strategy

On 14 July, the House of Commons Treasury Committee (the Committee) published a report on HM Treasury’s (HMT’s) financial inclusion strategy.

Background

The committee previously launched this inquiry on 28 November 2025 to examine whether the government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy matched the scale of financial exclusion and was likely to make a meaningful difference to people’s lives.

Summary

Overall, the Committee concluded that the financial inclusion strategy was a welcome first step, but not yet a complete plan. As a result, the Committee has made the following recommendations based on its findings:

• HMT should, within six months, publish a fuller quantitative analysis of the scale, causes and distribution of financial exclusion in the UK.
• HMT must publish within six months an implementation and accountability framework for the Financial Inclusion Strategy. Before publication, HM Treasury must agree with the Treasury Committee the core information to be included.
• HMT and the Financial Conduct Authority should also develop proportionate firm-level financial inclusion metrics. These should focus on the largest providers and on markets where exclusion causes the greatest consumer harm, such as contents insurance, affordable credit and access to basic banking services. They should be designed to identify whether progress is being delivered consistently across firms and sectors.
• HMT should set out clear triggers for further intervention and should also explain what evidence or level of consumer harm would be needed before existing reserve powers, including those on access to banking services, would be used. HM Treasury should consider now whether Financial Services and Markets Bill should include further targeted powers to intervene if voluntary action fails to secure reasonable access to essential financial services.
• HMT should publish a pilot-to-scale plan for the Financial Inclusion Strategy in the next six months.
• HMT should strengthen the governance of the Financial Inclusion Committee, its sub-committees and any implementation groups. For sub-committees and implementation groups, HM Treasury should publish membership, terms of reference and meeting frequency.