Select committee: Treasury Committee
Conclusion 122
6th Report - Acceptance of cash
Published 30 Apr 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Treasury Committee Acceptance of Cash All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
There may come a time in the future where it becomes necessary for HM Treasury to mandate cash acceptance if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented for those who need physical cash, and the level of cash acceptance begins to lead to widespread detriment. To ensure that HM Treasury has the information it needs to make this decision, cash acceptance levels in the UK must be monitored to ensure we do not sleepwalk into a loss of cash acceptance for those who need it. HM Treasury must provide the Treasury Committee with annual reporting on cash acceptance levels and provide an analysis of HM Treasury’s view of the tolerable level of cash acceptance in society. (Recommendation)
From: Treasury Committee, 6th Report - Acceptance of cash (HC 324), 30 April 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 July 2025 (deadline 30 June 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with several of the Committee's aims on cash access and acceptance, says existing measures already "give strong effect to the Committee's aims", and declines to adopt periodic or annual reporting.
- On an interim assessment of the access to cash regime, it says it is "too soon for a formal evaluation", but the FCA has committed to a formal review "in due course" and intends to confirm its timings in writing to the Committee this autumn.
- It supports the continuation of the Payment Systems Regulator's work during and after consolidation, and will consult on the transfer of responsibilities to the FCA "in due course" and legislate "as soon as possible".
- It does not accept the proposed five-yearly public judgment or annual reporting on cash acceptance, stating it will instead "continue to carefully evaluate available data on an ongoing basis".
- On international approaches, it agrees it is important to keep monitoring them and says it "will continue to monitor and assess developments in other countries".