REMUTUALISATION OF BANKS

That this House congratulates the success of mutuals and recognises their important contribution to the UK's economy; notes that one in three citizens is a member of at least one mutual and the sector has continued to grow despite the dramatic economic backdrop; further notes that overall revenues now exceed £98 billion which have risen from £84 billion in 2008 and mutuals are going from strength to strength and provide security and choice for consumers; further notes there are currently 52 mutual building societies in the UK and collectively they have 22 million members, employ 42,300 people and have assets of £341 billion; further notes that it is the ethics of the principle of mutuality that make these institutions so strong; further notes that not one building society survived as an independent British Bank after the regrettable demutualisations of the 1980s and 1990s; and urges the Government, as part of the restructuring of the banking sector, to enable and encourage the remutualisation of a significant part of it, including the conventional banking side of Northern Rock.