Barriers to financial inclusion: understanding the Mental Capacity Act for banks and building societies

For disabled people in particular, financial inclusion can be seen as fundamental to their wider social inclusion and their ability to live independently at home, at work and in the community. Recent government strategies have taken steps to promote greater choice and independence for disabled people such as the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit's ‘Improving Life Chances of Disabled People' and the Department of Health's Green Paper: Independence, Well Being and Choice. These strategies have emphasised the need for disabled people to have greater control and choice of social care and consequently the need for more disabled people to manage their own finances and care packages through bank accounts.

Financial inclusion is a high priority on both the political and social agenda. In the Spending Review 2004, the Government set out its commitment to tackle financial exclusion, especially in respect to:

• Access to banking
• Access to affordable credit
• Access to free money advice

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