Recommendation 3

No one is in overall charge of making sure that people and businesses have access to cash. The responsibilities and accountabilities of the different bodies for the functioning of the cash system are not clear. Five public authorities have responsibilities relating to different aspects of how cash is produced and delivered to consumers and businesses. But it appears no one organisation is in charge of making the cash system work effectively. The Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group co-ordinates activities between four of the public authorities but it is not a decision- making body. There are aspects of the cash system where no-one appears to be responsible, such as monitoring how well the cash system performs, or the extent to which businesses are continuing to accept cash. It is also unclear who is responsible for ensuring the financial and operational resilience of the cash system as a whole. In its call for views published just before our October 2020 evidence session, HM Treasury proposed that the FCA should take on overall responsibility for setting requirements to ensure that the retail distribution of cash meets the needs of consumers and businesses. Recommendation: HM Treasury needs to give overall responsibility for the cash system to a single body, with the other bodies having clearly defined roles to support this. It should address potential gaps in current oversight, for example in overseeing the end-to-end resilience of the cash system.