APPG are groups made up of Parliamentarians from across all parties and both house. These groups regularly meet to discuss, propose and campaign on issues relevant to their particular group.
During the last Parliament then APPG enjoyed support from across Parliament, it held short inquiries and produced reports on:
· Capital raising in Mutuals
· Examining the future role of football supporters trusts
Following publication of its inquiry into capital raising in mutuals, the Group was also instrumental in supporting Lord Naseby’s Mutuals’ Deferred Shares Act, a pioneering piece of legislation which will help friendly societies and mutual insurers to raise capital and grow.
Peter Temple, Deputy Chief Executive of local mutual, the Cumberland Building Society, said:
“The key benefit of being a mutual is that as we do not have to pay dividends to outside shareholders we can continue to focus on customer service, offering competitive products and services which provide long term value and also proactively investing in our use of technology to meet the changing needs of existing and future customers. Practical examples of the benefits of mutuality include the Cumberland being named ‘Best Regional Building Society’ for 2015 at the Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards, for consistently competitive mortgage products and also being the only building society in the UK who offer not only a full current account service, including internet and mobile banking, but also offering the current account service to business customers. In addition, we have expanded our already diverse product range (mortgages, savings, business banking, estate agency, financial advice) to include the provision of Vehicle Finance and becoming the first building society in the UK to participate in Paym, the national mobile payments scheme.”
John said ‘Mutuals are an important part of our financial sector in Britain and we are fortunate to have our own building society, Cumberland Building Society with their headquarters in Carlisle. They offer an added local dimension along with banks, working within their community. I am a supported of the added value that they bring to an area and am keen to be part of campaigns that will highlight the value of mutuals in Britain.’