Treasury Committee Calls for More Data and Targets in UK Financial Inclusion Strategy

The Treasury Committee said the UK government's Financial Inclusion Strategy, published in November 2025, fails to identify who is financially excluded, where exclusion is concentrated, which products and services are involved, or the reasons for exclusion.

The Independent reported that the committee concluded this gap prevents the Treasury from determining whether its interventions reach those most in need. The committee called for the Treasury to publish a fuller quantitative analysis of the scale, causes and distribution of financial exclusion, along with clearer targets, data and accountability measures.

It added that tracking meetings, pilots and consultations does not show whether the strategy is working. A review of progress is scheduled for 2027. Data cited in the report showed that in 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority found 900,000 adults had no current account and 13.1 million adults, or 24 percent of the UK adult population, had low financial resilience.

Low resilience was concentrated among lone parents, the unemployed, households earning below £15,000 a year and renters. The committee expressed concern that industry voices may have carried greater influence during the strategy's development and urged the government to demonstrate it is listening to consumer and lived-experience perspectives.

It also asked the Treasury to clarify whether it would intervene if progress stalls and what consequences would follow.

Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, said the strategy is a welcome first step but far from complete. She added that publishing the document and holding occasional stakeholder meetings would not suffice. Helen Undy, chief executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, welcomed the committee's attention to consumer voices being overshadowed by industry lobbying.