On 18 September 2026, the Treasury Committee published the Government and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) responses to its Financial Inclusion Strategy.

Summary

Government response

The Government sets out its responses to the Treasury Committee’s recommendations as follows:

  • Recommendation 1 – Publish a fuller analysis of financial exclusion: The Government agrees that a strong evidence base is essential for effective financial inclusion policy and for measuring whether interventions improve outcomes for those experiencing financial exclusion. However, it argues that much of the analysis requested by the Treasury Committee has already been undertaken through the development of the Financial Inclusion Strategy. The Government nevertheless commits to strengthening the evidence base. UK MoneyView will become an annual survey, FCA Financial Lives Survey 2026 will collect more detailed information on digital exclusion, and departments will continue adapting data collection to support Strategy priorities. The FCA will also publish another dedicated financial inclusion report alongside FLS 2026. The two-year review of the Strategy will assess both the effectiveness of interventions and their impact on different groups facing financial exclusion.
  • Recommendation 2 – Publish an implementation and accountability framework: The Government agrees that successful delivery of the Financial Inclusion Strategy requires robust oversight and accountability. However, it does not commit to publishing the detailed implementation framework requested by the Committee, including targets, milestones, funding assumptions and annual parliamentary reporting. Instead, it emphasises that the Strategy was deliberately designed as a collaborative effort involving government, regulators, industry, consumer groups and third-sector organisations.  To support delivery, the Government will continue convening the Financial Inclusion Committee twice yearly.
  • Recommendation 3 – Develop firm-level financial inclusion metrics: The Government agrees that it is important to monitor whether financial inclusion is improving and whether progress is consistent across firms and sectors. However, it does not support creating extensive new firm-level reporting metrics across markets such as affordable credit or insurance. It notes that firm-level reporting already exists where appropriate, citing annual reporting by major providers of basic bank accounts. Nevertheless, it argues that financial inclusion outcomes depend not only on firms’ behaviour but also on broader economic, social and behavioural factors. The Government also warns that extensive new reporting obligations could divert resources away from innovative inclusion initiatives and towards compliance. It therefore prefers to rely on population-level surveys, evaluations and targeted firm information where it provides useful insight.
  • Recommendation 4 – Set triggers for intervention where voluntary action fails: The Government agrees that voluntary action should not continue indefinitely without accountability, but it does not accept the need to establish detailed intervention triggers in advance. It argues that voluntary and industry-led initiatives can be effective, citing the rollout of banking hubs as evidence of successful collaboration between industry and government. Over 280 hubs have been announced and more than 245 are already operating. The Government also notes that the Financial Services and Markets Bill contains a power enabling intervention to protect access to banking services if evidence from the Access to Banking Services Review justifies action. This, it argues, provides a mechanism for swift intervention when required.
  • Recommendation 5 – Publish a pilot-to-scale plan: The Government agrees that successful pilots and exploratory programmes should ultimately lead to meaningful improvements in consumer outcomes. However, it believes that publishing detailed scaling plans now would be premature. Instead of producing a pilot-to-scale roadmap within six months, the Government states that the Strategy’s two-year review will assess the effectiveness of each initiative. The review will identify lessons learned, evaluate impacts, and consider whether particular approaches should be expanded, adapted or discontinued.
  • Recommendation 6 – Strengthen governance and stakeholder representation: The Government agrees that consumer groups, civil society organisations and people with lived experience of financial exclusion should remain central to implementation of the Strategy. It notes that these voices were involved extensively during policy development and continue to be represented on the Financial Inclusion Committee. However, it rejects the recommendation to publish membership, terms of reference and meeting details for sub-committees, noting that these groups were temporary bodies created to develop the Strategy and are no longer active. The Government also opposes formally recording disagreements between consumer and industry representatives, arguing that this could discourage frank discussion and undermine effective policymaking. Instead, it intends to continue encouraging open engagement while allowing participants to express their views publicly if they wish.

FCA response

The FCA makes clear that it welcomes the Treasury Committee’s report and emphasises that improving financial inclusion requires coordinated action across government, regulators, industry and the voluntary sector. Since the launch of the Financial Inclusion Strategy, the FCA sets out that it has supported its implementation through a range of initiatives, including pilots to improve access to insurance and work to expand access to affordable credit. It has also encouraged referrals between mainstream lenders and alternative providers and continues to promote innovation through its Innovation Services.

The FCA also sets out that a key focus of its own strategy is helping consumers navigate their financial lives, supported by the Consumer Duty and a particular emphasis on vulnerable consumers. Recent work includes mystery shopping of Basic Bank Account providers, which resulted in commitments by participating banks to improve consumer access. The FCA is also supporting the independent review of access to banking services and promoting the growth of the mutuals sector.

The FCA agrees that robust evidence should underpin financial inclusion policy and highlights the importance of the Financial Lives Survey, with the next survey results due in early 2027. It also points to significant new data sources, including detailed consumer credit sales data introduced in 2025 and a new annual Retail Banking Business Models Data return covering institutions representing around 97% of the market.

However, while supporting better evidence and transparency, the FCA does not support the Committee’s proposal for a broad firm-level financial inclusion metrics regime. It argues that financial exclusion results from a range of supply-side and demand-side factors and that firm-level comparisons can be misleading. Instead, the FCA favours a proportionate, system-wide approach based on targeted data collection, consumer research, innovation and collaboration with government and industry to improve outcomes.