Appointment of Financial Inclusion Taskforce members

The Financial Secretary today announced the appointment of the members of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce under the Chairmanship of Brian Pomeroy.

The Government announced its intention to set up the Financial Inclusion Taskforce in the Pre-Budget Report. The Taskforce will monitor progress against the Government’s objectives to promote financial inclusion through increasing access to banking, affordable credit and face-to-face money advice. The Taskforce will also report to the Government on what more can be done.

The members of the Taskforce have been drawn from across the financial services sector, the voluntary and community sector and academia. The 12 members of the Taskforce are:

Geoffrey Cooke
Benny Higgins
Elaine Kempson
Chris Lendrum
Mark Lyonnette
Bernie Morgan
Nick Pearson
Teresa Perchard
Brian Pomeroy (Chair)
Faith Reynolds
Susan Rice
Claire Whyley.

Mr Timms said:

“We know that there are around 2.8 million adults in households with no access to a bank account. The Government and the banks have agreed to work together towards the goal of halving this number and this new taskforce will have a key role in monitoring progress. The Taskforce will also advise the Government about what more needs to be done to tackle financial exclusion. We need to work together to enable individuals to take control of their own finances and access the financial services they need.”

Taskforce Chairman Brian Pomeroy said:

“I am very pleased to have in place a Taskforce of individuals with such extensive experience of the issues surrounding financial exclusion. I look forward to working with the members of the Taskforce and the Government, the banks and the not-for-profit sector to further the objective of promoting financial inclusion.”

Notes for editors

1. Biographical Details

Brian Pomeroy (Chair)
Brian Pomeroy was formerly Senior Partner of Deloitte Consulting and now holds a number of public, voluntary and private sector appointments. He is a member of the National Lottery Commission (having been its Chair in 1999/2000 and 2002/3) and of the Audit Commission. He is Chair of Homeless Link the umbrella body representing the homelessness sector. He is a non-executive director of the Pensions Protections Investments Accreditation Board.

He is Chairman of The King’s Consort (a leading baroque orchestra), a trustee of Space Studios, and a trustee of Children’s Express (a newsroom run by young people). He is also a board member of the Social Market Foundation (a think tank), and a trustee of Money Advice Trust, which works to provide advice for people in debt. Past appointments include serving as Chair of Centrepoint (a charity working with young people at risk) and as a member of the government's Disability Rights Task Force.

Geoffrey Cooke
Geoffrey Cooke has been Chief Executive of the British Cheque Cashers Association since 1997, but will be retiring from that position on 31st March. Prior to joining the BCCA, he spent more than 20 years working at industry level in the banking industry, most recently as Deputy Director of the British Bankers' Association.
Benny Higgins
Benny Higgins is Chief Executive of Retail Banking, at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. He has a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics from the University of Glasgow and is a Fellow of the
Faculty of Actuaries.

Elaine Kempson
Elaine Kempson is Professor of Personal Finance and Social Policy Research and Director of the Personal Finance Research Centre at Bristol University. For the past 20 years, she has undertaken research into various personal financial services and household money management. Financial inclusion is an important strand of her research and in addition to studies looking into the nature and causes of financial exclusion generally, she has also undertaken work on banking exclusion, access to insurance, affordable credit for people on low incomes and saving in low income households. Elaine was appointed as the first independent reviewer of the UK Banking Codes in 2002 and was reappointed to review the Codes again this year. She is currently a member of the UK Government Social Security Advisory Committee and the UK DTI advisory group on over-indebtedness. Previously, she was a member of the Treasury-led Policy Action Team 14 on access to financial services.

Chris Lendrum
Chris Lendrum CBE retired as Vice Chairman of Barclays plc responsible for Corporate Social Responsibility last year after 36 years with the Group. He has wide international experience of the challenges in making banking services universally available.

Mark Lyonnette
Mark is Chief Executive of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL). ABCUL is the major trade body for credit unions in Britain representing over 71% of credit unions and 84% of their members. The Association is part of the world wide network of credit unions through its apex body, the World Council of Credit Unions. Mark has been working for ABCUL for the last 6 years and Chief Executive for the last 8 months. Prior to that Mark worked for the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (England) in a variety of roles finishing as Director of Training and Conferences. Over the last five years ABCUL has had a major focus on helping its members to develop their capacity to meet the financial needs of those who are financially excluded.

Bernie Morgan
Bernie Morgan is the Chief Executive of the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA), the trade body for organisations which provide financial services to those excluded from mainstream provision. These organisations, Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) are a new and emerging force for change throughout the UK. Since her appointment as the Association's first Chief Executive, in April 2003, Bernie has grown the membership, increased staff and income and established the CDFA as a leading voice
for financial inclusion.

Nick Pearson
Nick has been the National Debt Advice Coordinator at Advice UK since 1997. He also works as a part time consultant to CPP Group on the development of its financial health product. With a career spent in advice organisations including Citizens Advice, where he was Manager of the Money Advice Support Unit he has particular experience of consumer credit, mortgages, debt and personal finance issues and with vulnerable consumers.

Teresa Perchard
Teresa Perchard is Director Policy at Citizens Advice where she leads the development of policy on a wide range of social and consumer policy issues, including debt and financial exclusion and consumer protection. The CAB Service is the largest single provider of free, confidential and independent debt advice in the UK with almost 500 member bureaux operating from 3,200 different locations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Prior to joining Citizens Advice in February 2000 Teresa has had over 12 years experience of developing and implementing policy on regulation, consumer protection and consumer representation through posts she has held at the Office of the Rail Regulator, the Office of Water Services and the National Consumer Council.

Faith Reynolds
Faith Reynolds established SAFE (Services Against Financial Exclusion) at Toynbee Hall, East London in 2002. SAFE offers practical services to increase financial capability, decrease over-indebtedness and improve access to financial services (in particular bank accounts) for hard to reach groups. Faith led the working group with Child Poverty Action Group for the recently published resource, the Personal Finance Handbook. She also instigated the first meeting of the Financial Inclusion Forum to support practitioners. Faith has used her experience at SAFE to inform policy debate on asset building, financial education and its delivery.

Susan Rice
Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, Susan Rice made history in 2000 when she became the first woman to head a UK clearing bank, which has seen a period of unprecedented growth under her leadership. Susan is a non-executive director of Scottish and Southern Energy, a FTSE 40 company, and chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She also chairs the Steering Group for the Deputy First Minister’s Financial Services Strategy Group in Scotland.

Susan’s experience has led to many requests in the UK for her leadership and guidance in the field of financial and social exclusion. She is a founding director of Charity Bank and chairs the Advisory Board of the Scottish Centre for Social Justice. She was a member of HM Treasury Policy Action Team on financial exclusion and is a frequent speaker on the topic.

Claire Whyley
Claire Whyley, Deputy Director of Policy at the National Consumer Council, has more than ten years experience of policy research relating to poverty, debt, money management, financial services, and social and financial exclusion. At the Policy Studies Institute her research covered housing benefit, benefit fraud, fuel poverty, household budgeting and bill payment, and access to home contents insurance. After setting up the Personal Finance Research Centre with her PSI colleague Elaine Kempson, Claire was involved in a number of key studies of the nature, extent and dynamics of financial exclusion. Moving to the Welsh Consumer Council, as Head of Research, in 2001 Claire undertook the first ever analysis of levels of borrowing and debt among Welsh households. Joining the National Consumer Council in December 2003, she lead the NCC’s successful super-complaint on home credit and manages the Council’s Public Services and Consumer
Disadvantage teams.

2. The Government set out its intention to establish a Financial Inclusion Taskforce in the Pre-Budget Report accompanying document ‘Promoting Financial Inclusion’.

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