On the 29th January 2025, LLoyds Banking Group (LBG) announced that they would be closing three branches in Hexham constituency as they close 136 branches across the nation. Lloyds Prudhoe will be closing on the 15th of May whilst Lloyds Hexham and Halifax Hexham will both close on the 5th of November.
The closures, which LBG say are due to customers choosing mobile banking over in-person, mean there are only X bank branches and X building society branches remaining in Hexham constituency.
Lloyds Banking Group currently has 37,691 personal banking customers and 3,116 business customers in Hexham constituency.
While LBG has mentioned plans to provide a Community Banker it is notable that customers cannot deposit or withdraw cash at community banks, a vital part of in-person banking services for many people.
Joe Morris MP today wrote to Lloyds Banking Group asking them to reconsider the closure of these banks. Given the size of Hexham constituency, the largest English constituency by land-mass and an area wider than that contained by the M25, the effects of such limited banking provisions will be strongly felt.
At the beginning of his tenure as an MP and as the subject of his first adjournment debate, Joe Morris MP raised the issue of banking deserts in rural Northumberland.
Joe Morris, MP for Hexham constituency, said:
“The decision of LLoyds Banking Group to close two of their branches in Hexham and their branch in Prudhoe this year will leave our area depleted of banking provisions, with only X bank branches left in Hexham constituency.
“These closures not only affect our previously well serviced towns but also further cut off the more rural areas of our constituency where local banking provisions have already been decimated.
“While big banks evidence the move of customers from high-street to online banking which is understandably a convenient tool for many, it is not a universal solution. From our small businesses who need to deposit cash daily to our elderly or disabled constituents who may struggle with digital banking and constituents in our rural villages with unreliable internet – online banking is not viable.
For details on Joe Morris’ September 2024 adjournment debate on rural banking provisions in Northumberland, please read https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-09-02/debates/0F77DDAA-8CB6-4DFB-A163-7B74157C99B5/BankingServicesRuralNorthumberland#contribution-DD8B86ED-8E84-491A-9092-F57078FEDE17
Details of Lloyds Banking Group’s role in banking in Hexham constituency can be found at https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/who-we-are/our-strategy/constituency-factsheets/north-england-constituency-factsheets.html
A full list of banks being closed this year by Lloyds Banking Group has been published at the following link https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/business/consumer/lloyds-bank-full-list-banking-uk-branch-closures-halifax-bank-of-scotland-locations-4965959