Two ‘Credit Union Manifestos’ have been issued, outlining the sector’s key priorities for financial inclusion in the upcoming Scottish and Welsh elections
The manifestos, developed by the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (Abcul) in partnership with the Scottish League of Credit Unions (SLCU) and Credit Unions of Wales, calls on the next Scottish and Welsh governments to expand support for community-based finance initiatives.
Jointly, the manifestos aim to strengthen the role of member-owned lenders within national economic strategies through a range of key policy proposals. These include ‘unlocking dormant assets’, expanding payroll deduction initiatives, reinforcing digitalisation within the sector, reforms to insolvency schemes, and crucially, ‘embedding credit unions within local authority and community wealth-building strategies’.
With Abcul and SLCU representing 73% of the Scottish credit union sector, the Scottish manifesto represents a unified policy document from credit unions across the country. In Scotland, credit unions provide services to more than 460,000 people including savings, affordable credit and financial support.
In Wales, credit unions also serve a not-insubstantial 78,000 members, with the manifesto calling on the Senedd to help grow the sector further.
Abcul CEO Matt Bland said: “Credit unions across Scotland and Wales are delivering vital services every day to help households build resilience, avoid high-cost credit, and strengthen their financial wellbeing.
“These manifestos set out a clear, ambitious and achievable blueprint for enabling the sector to grow sustainably and support even more people in the years ahead. We are calling on political leaders to work in partnership with us-recognising credit unions not only as ethical financial providers, but as essential social and economic anchors within their communities.”
