Major banks summoned to meet financial watchdog over ‘measly’ easy access savings rates
The bosses of the country’s four main lenders have been summoned to a meeting with the financial watchdog as they face pressure to raise “measly” easy access savings rates.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expects chief executives from HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds and Barclays to attend on Thursday amid allegations of “blatant profiteering”.
It comes as the Treasury Committee of MPs said it had written to the chief executives to demand that savers are fairly rewarded.
Lenders have been accused of being quick to reflect Bank of England rate hikes in their borrowing costs – hurting the likes of mortgage holders – but acting slowly to pass on rate rises to those able to squirrel away some cash as the cost of living crisis evolves.
Dame Andrea Leadsom, the former cabinet minister who sits on the Treasury Committee, said that “it’s quite clear they have failed to pass on the rise in interest rates to savers”.
Colleague Dame Angela Eagle added: “This blatant profiteering has been shocking, and it’s clear to me this behaviour is miles away from the incoming requirement for firms to treat their customers fairly and with respect.”
The letter to bank bosses asks if they believe all their savings rates provide “fair value” to customers and whether customer inertia is being exploited.
It effectively questions whether they would currently comply with the new consumer duty rules, due to kick in at the end of the month.
The change in the regulatory demands of lenders forces them to put consumers at the heart of what they do.
Treasury committee chair, Harriett Baldwin, said: “With interest rates on the rise and our constituents feeling squeezed by rising prices, it is only right that the UK’s biggest banks step up their measly easy access savings rates.”
She told Sky’s Business Live with Ian King that the major lenders were taking advantage of people such as the elderly who needed high street services.
“For our constituents who are, perhaps, not comfortable with internet banking… we think that these customers are being particularly badly treated,” she said.
Another member, Labour’s Dame Angela Eagle, said: “In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the high street banks are squeezing higher profits from their loyal savings customers.”
After 13 consecutive increases, bank rate – the UK’s base-level interest rate – currently stands at 5%.
The average two-year homeowner mortgage rate on the market is 6.42%, according to data from financial information website Moneyfactscompare.co.uk.
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Age-old complaint about savings rates is down to you rather than bank bosses
It had stood at a level closer to 2.5% before the Bank of England’s cycle of rate rises began in December 2021.
The data showed that the average easy access savings rate on the market currently stood at 2.43%.
Savers looking for a one-year fixed-rate account, however, can get 4.82% typically.
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New measures for mortgage holders
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt issued a similar plea for banks to pass on rates to savers last month after securing an agreement on the help being offered to mortgage-holders.
Bank of England data last week showed a record net sum withdrawn from savings accounts during May as households continue to struggle amid stubborn inflation.
The banking sector, which has stepped up the pace of rate hikes for savings products in recent months, has urged consumers to shop around for deals that suit them best.
Speaking to Sky News’s Kay Burley on Tuesday morning, veterans minister Johnny Mercer accused the banks of profiteering.
“Interest rates are going up and the government wants to see those passed on to savers. You don’t want to see any profiteering like this, particularly when life is really tough for people out there at the moment around interest rates.”
“It doesn’t sound good and I suspect the Treasury will look at it today.”
Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden was also asked if banks were profiteering, saying, “you could use that word”.
“Because apart from anything, this is how a rise in interest rates is supposed to work, it is supposed to encourage people to save. But how can you encourage people to save if you’re offering really pitifully low savings rates?”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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