Financial Inclusion Commission launches its Plan For Change, Welcoming Treasury Committee's Call for Accountable and Enforceable Delivery on Financial Inclusion.
The Financial Inclusion Commission today responds to the Treasury Select Committee's report on the Financial Inclusion Strategy, published earlier today, and sets out how its 2026 Plan for Change will help deliver on the Committee's recommendations.
Financial exclusion affects one in four people in the UK. Nine million adults were declined credit in a single year. Eight million need debt advice. One in ten has no cash savings at all. For those affected, the consequences extend far beyond individual hardship, driving up demand on public services and holding back the wider economy.
Welcoming the Committee's Report
The Commission particularly welcomes three elements of the Committee's report. First, its call for HM Treasury to publish an implementation and accountability framework within six months, alongside a clear pilot-to-scale plan, and its insistence on baselines, targets, named owners, firm-level data and regular reporting. Ambition without accountability has been part of why previous strategies have stalled, and the Committee is right to demand mechanisms that make progress visible and owners answerable.
Second, the Committee's recognition that the market will not necessarily deliver financial inclusion in every area on its own, and that where voluntary action fails to secure reasonable access to financial services, targeted powers to intervene should be considered. This marks an important shift from relying solely on industry goodwill toward a system that can act when goodwill isn't enough.
Third, the Committee's insistence that consumer, civil society and lived-experience voices must have a clear and continuing role in shaping delivery, not just design. People with direct experience of exclusion understand the system's failures better than anyone, and their voice should carry real weight throughout implementation, not just at the consultation stage.
“When one in four people are financially excluded, the cost is felt not just by individuals but by communities, public services and the economy. The challenge is significant, but so is the opportunity: at the Financial Inclusion Commission, we believe that with the right sense of urgency and commitment to collaborative action, financial exclusion can be halved within ten years. This plan is our commitment to doing that with rigour and urgency.”
— Sian Williams, Chair, Financial Inclusion Commission
How the Commission Creates Change
The Financial Inclusion Commissions Plan For Change centres on four tools used in combination: commissioning rigorous evidence grounded in the real experiences of excluded people; convening leaders from financial services, civil society, regulation, and government who do not routinely work together; providing independent scrutiny and challenge as a constructive critical friend; and championing what works across all four nations of the UK.
No single organisation owns this problem. Financial exclusion spans government departments, the Treasury Committee, the FCA, banks, payment services providers, insurers, pension providers, debt advice services, and community organisations. The Commission’s independence means it can hold the whole system to account, and go where the government itself cannot.
Get Involved
The Commission is calling on policymakers, regulators, financial services providers, charities, community organisations, and people with direct experience of financial exclusion to engage with the strategy and get involved in its work.
Financial exclusion is not inevitable. With the right ambition, coordination and accountability, we can build a financial system that works for everyone.
Notes to Editors
About the Financial Inclusion Commission: The Financial Inclusion Commission is an independent, non-partisan body working to ensure everyone in the UK can access the financial services they need to build a stable financial life, whatever their income or circumstances. It brings together leaders from financial services, civil society, regulation, and policy alongside people with direct, lived experience of exclusion.
Statistics cited in this release:
1 in 4 people in the UK have low financial resilience (FCA, 2025)
9 million adults declined credit in 12 months (MaPS, 2023)
8.1 million people need debt advice (MaPS, 2025)
1 in 10 people have no cash savings (FCA, 2025)
7.9 million adults lack basic digital skills (Good Things Foundation, 2024)
Media enquiries: Rachael Mole
rachael@financialinclusioncommission.org.uk
www.financialinclusioncommission.org.uk
