We welcome the publication of the Treasury Committee’s report on the Financial Inclusion Strategy this morning.
The report highlights a number of important points made by our Chief Executive, Michelle Highman, at the oral evidence session in March.
Michelle welcomed the greater attention being given to financial inclusion by government and industry, and expressed her delight that Financial Education & Financial Capability was a part of the Strategy. But she also noted that the Strategy looked at access to products such as credit and insurance, rather than thinking about “the person” and their characteristics such as “gender, ethnicity, disability, employment status and age. (Page 5)”
Commenting on how the Financial Inclusion Committee and its sub-committee operated, Michelle stated that the main Committee did not have “a huge amount of time” and that, as a result, the business of the Strategy had probably been moved to the sub-committees. She questioned why there were sub-committees for three areas but not for Financial Education, Financial Capability, savings and debt (Page 13).
She also gave extensive evidence on Financial Education & Financial Capability strategy and funding, welcoming the changes to the National Curriculum and the £15 million of dormant assets ringfenced for Financial Capability, but setting out there was still much more to do to ensure sustainable delivery and funding for this important area.
Published in November 2025, the Financial Inclusion Strategy sets out this government’s approach to improving financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. Financial Education and Capability is one of the six core pillars of the Strategy. The Treasury Committee announced an inquiry into the Strategy in the same month and we were pleased to be asked to give evidence in March of this year.
Read the full report here.
