19.09.2013
By Jennifer Tankard, Director of Community Development Foundation
The green shoots of economic growth may be emerging but now is not the time to ease the pressure on the need for finance sector reform. For the last 18 months, the Community Investment Coalition (CIC) has campaigned for access to fair and affordable finance for families, businesses and communities.
We want to achieve:
- increased transparency and public accountability of financial service providers to support consumer choice and allow effective intervention in under-served markets
- greater diversity of the finance sector with more providers offering a wide range of fair and affordable products to households, individuals, small and micro businesses and communities
- sustainable local economic growth with a greater share of locally generated income remaining within communities to drive economic growth.
To reach these goals we are campaigning for a number of specific changes. These include disclosure of lending data by all financial service providers, so that there is transparency at a geographic level about the availability of affordable financial services; the need for investment in the ‘alternative’ finance sector, such as CDFIs to increase reach and impact; and greater awareness of the role that CDFIs and credit unions can play in providing local financial services.
CIC has had some success. We now have a voluntary framework in place for disclosure of lending data by the main high street banks, with the first data release due out at the end of the year. We have raised the profile of the need for reform. And we have highlighted the need for the economic growth debate to address access to finance as well as planning reform and infrastructure investment.
CDFA is an important partner of CIC bringing valuable expertise about the role of CDFIs as a long-term solution to provision of affordable finance in local communities. Other partners include the Centre for Responsible Credit and the Community Development Foundation.
Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers the UK is still a long way from a fairer, more accessible and stable financial sector. CIC’s campaign will continue and gather pace to ensure a return to growth doesn’t negate the need for financial sector reform. If you want to find out more about the campaign or get involved visit our website or follow us on twitter.