Cymru ond hanfodd cyfnod ynw Ymgrifod Llywodraeth neu Llywodraeth yn gyfnod i'r unrhyw festu gennymau. Ar y ystafell, rydyn ni'n amdalwch y ffordd yеждуfer iawn, os byddoedd yn eu cyfnod rydym ni'n gweithio, i fod i'r pan wcwrs a wneud yn ei dda. Diolch yn fawr. favourite businesses this afternoon? I don't have time to extend as I would normally for the amount of speakers that we have here. Ms Forbes, five minutes please. Thank you. We are having this debate because so many people right across Scotland feel powerless, powerless as national banks close branches at a faster rate than ever before, withdrawn from communities and leaving many customers behind. There are so many speakers Felly, we have a responsibility to highlight our constituents concerns despite banking being a reserved matter, despite the Scottish Government having no formal power to intervene. My colleague Ian Blackford R.akes raised that at Prime Minister's questions yesterday and I am pleased to do so today. The recent announcement by RBS to close 62 branches in Scotland is just the latest, That is the most ruthless. It means that there will be only 89 innovative social services of the markets in Scotland on SPYN is open for 392 companies in Scotland compared with the previous generation in April 2013. I believe that they should reverse that decision, not least because in 2008 we collectively bailed out to the Royal Bank of Scotland and we, the taxpayers are still the majority shareholder. The very customers who feel powerless and the very customers who will be most disadvantaged are the very customers whose taxes funded that bailout. But RBS are not the only ones, and no doubt other speakers today will talk about closures by Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale and others. It is the most fragile and vulnerable customers who will suffer most. Although, yes, many people are choosing to bank online or to bank on their phone app, not everybody is, not everybody can and not everybody will, it is the older and vulnerable customers who do not have access to the internet and still visit the local branch on a weekly basis because they trust the staff and they struggle to access services in other ways. Alasdair Allan. On that very point, does the member agree that the Royal Bank of Scotland's initial announcement reassuring people on the island of Barra that they could still use bank and ATM facilities in Loch Boysdale? Some 27 miles away by sea shows that RBS has a complete indifference to the needs of island customers in particular. I agree with the member that it is the communities of remote and rural Scotland badly hit by closures already with unreliable ATMs and patchy broadband that will suffer the most. Take Keil of Luchalsch, for example, where RBS will close the branch. Keil attracts hundreds of visitors during the summer, it has a lot of small businesses and residents and almost three quarters of the population cannot access speeds of up to 10 megabits per second of broadband. Across the highlands, if RBS closures go ahead in six months' time, 26 highland banks' branches will have closed in the last two and a half years. That is 14 RBS branches, 10 Bank of Scotland branches and two Clyde Stale branches. It is also the cash-based businesses operating in a largely cash-based economy like tourism, which is a big growth sector in the highlands that will also struggle. When RBS closes branches in places like Buley in six months' time, it will be closing the last branch in town. There are 13 towns in Scotland where the last bank branch will be going, will be leaving, despite RBS's commitment not to close the last bank in town. What does that mean? Alasdair Allan has already highlighted what it means for his island community. For my communities, it could mean up to an hour and over of travel to a branch. For older people, for businesses that have tight timescales and for customers who cannot rely on public transport for a whole host of reasons. Last week, I visited three of the four RBS branches that are facing closure in my constituency—Buley, Keilivlchalsh and Avymor—and I intend to visit Malig soon. Those closures come swiftly after the Bank of Scotland branch closures in Fortrose, Broadford, Can You See and Buley. I have to finish with this, that there is no doubt that branch staff are doing everything they can to advise and support customers about alternatives, depositing and withdrawing cash at the post office, visiting the mobile branch or accessing the nearest ATM. I was absolutely amazed by the dedication and care of RBS staff in Keil, Buley and Avymor and their managers, whose sole focus at the moment is the customers that they have known for years. They did not make those decisions, but they are the ones who take the flack and see the customers who are anxious and worried. For those customers who are concerned—I close on this—I recommend that you pop into your branch as soon as possible to speak to a member of staff. I call on RBS to reconsider its decision to close the branches for the sake of the people of Keil, Malig, Buley, Avymor and across communities in Scotland. I remind all those who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons and remove to the open debate speeches of absolutely no more than one and a half minutes. I call Edward Mountain to be followed by Richard Lyle. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you, Kate Forbes, for bringing this debate. The Royal Bank of Scotland decision to close 62 branches in Scotland has been met with justified anger, and frankly it is no wonder. Back in 2009, the RBS boasted that it was here for you wherever you may live, but it appears that that is not now the case. When the going got tough for the RBS, the taxpayer did not desert the bank. They rescued it, and in return the RBS has been promising to maintain branches across the country. Now the RBS is deserting rural Scotland, and the highlands, as Kate Forbes has eloquently put, will be one of the hardest areas hit. If the RBS does not back down from those closures, there will be a real threat to the high streets in the highlands and rural businesses such as tourism. Let us not pretend that it will be anything else but that. Branches with their ATMs are closing, as Kate Forbes said, in Cyle, Malig, Nairn, Avymor, Buley, Granton, Inverness, Tain, Tung and Wick. Customers and businesses need the reassurance of a local branch alongside the first-class digital service that they get if they can get it, but in areas across the highlands the broadband is so poor that digital banking is just a dream. It is clear that not enough thought has been put into this decision to close local branches, and I urge the RBS to reconsider. I call upon the RBS to stand by its customers, the very customers that stood by them in the hard times that they faced. Richard Lyle, followed by Richard Leonard. First, I refer members to my register of interests. I am an ex-employee of the Royal Bank and receive a monthly pension from the bank. I thank Kate Forbes for bringing the debate to the chamber today. I joined Royal Scott financial services in 1990. The company dealt with financial services as part of the Royal Bank of Companies. When I joined the Royal Bank, the share price was a pound. Over the years, the share price of RBS climbed and climbed and climbed. It made what some would say extortionate profits. The bank wanted to make a £2 billion profit to fit in with the year 2000. It did. It made the profit and went on to make between £6 billion and £12 billion profits in the early part of this century. It was heady days, and the share price finally reached £20 per share. Buying other banks was a downfall of the Royal Bank. The share price fell like a stone and reached, I believe, £10 per share at its lowest. I blame the stock market and certain people who should have known better for the bank's downfall, but customers should not pay for their mistakes. RBS promised that there will always be a local branch in the high street. RBS is making many of their loyal staff redundant. In my constituency, there are closing two branches. RBS said that because it is following footfall, sorry, I would dispute your figures. Most people do want to get into their local branch, most people cannot deal with apps or new technology, some people are dinosaurs. It should be a bank that cares, look out RBS, you went a step too far. Belsol previously had four banks in its main street. That proposed closure will leave us with one. I thank Kate Bortfors for bringing this matter to the chamber today. Richard Leonard, followed by Kenneth Gibson. The people owner controlling majority stake in RBS, and if RBS bosses will not listen to reason and pull back from those closures, and if the Tory chancellor, Philip Hammond, will not intervene to stop them, we must mobilise the people. On 8 December, I wrote to the chancellor, requesting that he steps in and calls a halt to this social and economic vandalism. Earlier this week, I held discussions with the shadow chancellor, John MacDonald. We discussed the red book from last month's autumn budget statement. It makes grim reading. Growth figures were significantly revised down, but worse, I can reveal today that hidden away in the public finance section of that red book, the Tory chancellor now has his sights on the Royal Bank of Scotland being sold off. Because of the downgrading of the economic growth forecast, Philip Hammond is proposing to fix public sector net borrowing by selling off RBS at a bargain basement price. This afternoon, from this Parliament, I call on the Scottish Government and the Scottish Conservatives to stand up for Scotland. Call on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, not to sell off the RBS. Call on Philip Hammond to veto the closure of those bank branches across Scotland and let's step up the campaign, because in the end, if we own RBS, we the people ought to control RBS. Kenneth Gibson, followed by Matt Ruskell. I congratulate Kate Forbes on securing this debate. The latest round of RBS closures is not just a bloat in North Ayrshire's people, businesses and communities, but rather the latest insult demonstrating the sheer contempt that RBS has for its customers and branch staff. Kilburnyn sawcoats will join already closed to Ryan West Kilbride, leaving only Brodick and Largs RBS branches in my constituency. It seems that RBS had no intention of fulfilling their much-trumpeted promise not to close the last remaining bank in our community, and I'm annoyed that loyal customers were used as a prop in what appears to be an elaborate PR stunt. Closure of the 62 Scottish branch buildings will raise just 8.7 million acorn at the Sunday Mail, if sold at all. As we know, empty bank buildings are many of our high streets, and even if we realise that this is still much less than the eye-watering £16 million bonuses paid to RBS executives this year by the £11 million sponsorship of Scottish Rugby by RBS, that would be shocking enough for many high street bank, but even more galling from RBS, 72.9 per cent owned by the UK taxpayer. Understandably, people are looking for answers and recognition of their investment. Of course, that decision was provoked by mobile and online banking being promoted, but it's incredibly short-sighted to assume that this meets the needs of customers. When challenged, RBS pointed to the mobile branches as a final word in rural and semi-rural banking, yet across the air, many complained about the inaccessibility of mobile banks that require customers to climb four high steps. It's appalling that wheelchair users are expected to conduct their business outside the van in all weithers, and RBS refuses to change to even meet and engage with campaigners. That decision, as final RBS says, and more job closers and job cuts could be on the way, is totally unacceptable. On behalf of constituency herds of Westminster Government to exercise its majority shareholding and force RBS to engage with staff and local communities, no-one should be left behind because of RBS's appalling actions. I just say that, if people go over time, it may disadvantage other people. Can we please have Mark Ruskell followed by Mary Gougeon? I thank Kate Forbes for galvanising Parliament today. Nine of those bank closers will take place in my region. Branches in Aberfeldy, Alloa, Bannockburn, Bridgervall and Cymru, Dunblane, Kinross, Perth and Pitlockery are all scheduled to shut. The Korean newspaper has highlighted that this is the latest in a long line of closures to hit communities, with RBS branches in Lochgelly and Dalgetty Bay, of course, shutting earlier this year. In Dunblane, Bridgervall and My Green Collie councillor Tomash has been working with both community councils, and public meetings have been arranged for the new year in the hope of retaining at least some services. RBS stated that they would never close the last bank in town, but it is clear that that is exactly what they are doing. No amount of coothy marketing campaigns proclaiming that we are with you every day will change the fact that they are abandoning communities to a computer server in Gogeburn. RBS says that services can be accessed at post offices, but they are becoming scarce too, with over a quarter closing since 2002. A weekly mobile banking service does not offer security for cash-based businesses who require to make daily deposits. There could be serious insurance implications for those businesses too, a point that I would quite like the minister to reflect on in closing. It is time for the UK Government to use its decisive share in RBS to deliver a network that is fit for Scotland's communities and people in the 21st century. Mary Gougeon, followed by Mike Trumbles. Thank you and my sincere thanks to Kate Forbes for bringing forward this debate today and allowing all members here to vent their frustrations at what is yet another disgraceful set of closures by a bank that will hit all our constituencies and the communities within them hard. I, like many others here, was angry and appalled to hear the news two weeks ago that RBS was set to close a branch in my constituency, this time in Montrose. One closure, but one closure that comes straight on the back of three RBS closures over the past two years across Breachan, Stonehaven and Lawrence Kirk, and fresh on the back of Clydesdale bank closures, which saw three out of the four in my constituency close, again affecting Breachan, Stonehaven and Forfer. I have been inundated by angry and seriously concerned constituents, those who work with people with learning disabilities, those who work with the elderly, the elderly themselves, people who are dependent on public transport, those affected by the last round of closures and have been redirected from all parts of the north-east of Scotland to the Montrose branch, which is now set to close. RBS expects people to use the post office or their mobile bank, putting more pressure on the post office who are expected to pick up their slack, as well as the slack of the other banks who have abandoned their communities, and mobile banks, where there is a severe lack of accessibility for those with mobility problems, where you cannot access the full range of services and where there is only a limited time in each of the locations that they serve. All of that at a time when RBS is expected to shell out millions upon millions in bonuses, well, enough is enough. We the people in here and out there own over 70 per cent of this bank, RBS therefore have a duty to work in the public interest and we demand that they do that by reversing that decision and keeping the branches open. Mike Rumbles, followed by Jenny Gilruth. I live seven miles north of the village of Afford in rural Aberdeenshire and use the RBS branch there. When the bank announced the closure of the branch in September 2015, they recommended that I move my business to their branch in West Hill some 19 miles away. It was in actual fact 26 miles from my home. I declined to do that, but I know that many of the afford RBS customers did and the nearest other RBS branch was in Huntley some 21 miles north of Afford. Then last October, RBS announced it was closing its West Hill branch. Yes, the one customers had just been advised to move all their accounts to. Never mind, we did have the Huntley branch staying open just as I say, some 21 miles north of Afford. Would you believe it again? RBS having their latest round of branch closures decided in their wisdom to close the Huntley branch too. RBS has taken the decision on branch closures in isolation. They are a business after all and they are in the business of making a profit. However, I would simply ask RBS and indeed the other banks to think outside the box, solutions, that is what we need. They could still make a profit and provide a service to our rural communities by working together. Now, isn't that novel? Even with their competitors in a community hub, with facilities, local people could access with greater ease. If the banks continue to work in silos, we could see them all withdraw their services from our towns and villages and that way lies disaster. Minister, I would say to the minister, could we get the banks, could you knock their heads together so that they could actually co-operate together to save the services and keep a profit for themselves? It is a win-win situation. Jenny Gilruth, to be followed by Rachel Hamilton. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I begin by congratulating my friend and colleague Kate Forbes on securing today's debate. Time is limited today, therefore I will focus my time on the closure of RBS, the RBS branch in Leven. I could talk about 2014. No, I do not mean that. I mean Mark Inch, I mean London Lynx and I mean Thornton, each with populations of roughly 2,000 people each who RBS left behind. Let's not kid ourselves here. RBS has been closing branches in swathes for years, but it sticks in the cross somewhat in 2017. The same year, the bank recorded an £871 million profit in the third quarter of this year. Merry Christmas to the shareholders. In my constituency, the Leven branch shut its doors on 3 October. There was no consultation. I found out about it and about the replacement mobile banking service via email. The bank now visits Leven three times a week, but the sum total of opening hours is just a shocking four and a half hours. All timeslots fall within the hours of a normal working day. Two fall across the morning period, and one is over lunch. Additionally, as has previously been said by my friend Mary Gougeon, mobile banks are not accessible. I do not think that it coincidental that, within weeks of RBS announcing that it was shutting shop and the Clyde deal bank doing likewise, WH Smith shut up too. Leven High Street is just a mirror image of every other town across Scotland, as we have heard today. Once the banks go, shops close, and then what? RBS claimed that it had to shut the Leven branch because of footfall, but it could not give my office its figures for the months before it closed. My constituents are being let down by a bank that they own and that the UK Government has watched its hands of. It is not good enough. I stand with colleagues today across the chamber in demanding a royal bank for Scotland, not its shareholders. Rachael Hamilton, followed by Colin Smyth. News that RBS has decided to shut 62 branches is devastating, and as Kate Forbes highlights, rural areas will be hit the hardest. The Scottish borders will see significant detrimental impact. It is disappointing that those in rural areas have seemingly been forgotten in this decision. Banks have a moral obligation to ensure continued access to service, especially for older or vulnerable residents. Clearly, RBS is not living up to that obligation. The borders are up in arms. Only three years ago, the bank shut its branches in Chernside, Greenlaw and Newtown St Boswells. Closure's forecast for Selkirk, Duns, Eymouth, Hoik, Jebber and Melrose will cause further disruption and woe. Those who cannot or would prefer not to digitally bank now have to find another way to get to the bank. Once on their doorstep, now miles away. In the borders where broadband is slow, digital banking is not as easy as some would suggest. Of course, not everyone can drive, and that is why many retire to towns in order to access services easily. Previous closures in the borders have already impacted on the high streets. Constituents in Hoik now face a 40-mile round-trip to their nearest bank. Furthermore, the post office or mobile bank is no substitute for a bank teller. Traders are now expected to shut shop to get their banking, damaging their business productivity and lessening open hours. On small business Saturday, I spoke with traders and shoppers on the high street in Jed, who told me how shocked they were that the news that RBS is shutting. And a constituent in coldstream last week pleaded with me to contact their ATM provider as one was out of order and the other hadn't been topped up with cash. And this is what we are now facing. I really hope that RBS reconsider their closures. Colin Smyth, followed by Stuart Stevenson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Kate Forbes for her motion. Nearly a quarter of the latest RBS closures come in the south of Scotland. Communities in Anangretna, Llangham and Lockerbyn, Dumfries and Galloway, Biggar, Canwith and Douglas in South Lanarkshire, Dunbar in North Berwick in East Lothian, Duns, Imouth, Hoi, Jedbarer, Melrose and Selkirk in the Scottish Borders and Penicourt in Midlothian will all see their branches axed by RBS. That's less than a year since the closure of branches in Newton, Stuart and Dumfries and Galloway, as well as Cymde, Mockland, Preswick, Trun and Gervant in Ayrshire. Presiding Officer, across south Scotland, our towns and villages are being left without a single bank branch, despite a previous commitment by RBS not to close a branch if it's the last bank in town. Of course, misleading public, the public is what RBS do. Recently, RBS business customers in Llangham received a letter from their bank, which appeared to hint at the closure of the local branch. When challenged on this issue, they denied that it would happen, yet weeks later, closure is exactly what they've announced. RBS say that they will try to avoid compulsory redundancies during the latest closures, but the reality is that the scale of those closures is such that loyal, hard-working staff are being left with no reasonable relocation options. With 165 jobs on the line and the UK Government-owned RBS, how did the Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, initially respond to the news, he got his photo taken outside RBS and bigger. Staffing customers don't need sympathetic words and photo calls, they need direct intervention by the UK Government to stop those closures now, and we need legislation from the UK Government to ensure that a branch is the last in town and there can be no closure without full consultation with customers. The final decision is being made not by the bank itself, but by the financial conduct authority. Stuart Stevenson, followed by Brian Whittle. I draw members' attention to my register of interests. I start by reminding banks that they do not stand apart from wider society, they exist to serve it and depend on its support for their continued existence and for their special privileges. Bank of Scotland opened its doors in 1695 and drew a probrium in 1715, when it was bored back to Jacobite Rebellion, leading to the foundation of the Hanoverian Royal Bank. That nearly closed the Bank of Scotland. Today, the Royal Bank and others, removing branch-based services from communities across Scotland, in particular in Banff and Mike, says that there is a significant risk to some banks' future success. Banks should set aside short-term financial targets to ensure their long-term survival. They can do so by re-earning the trust and support of local people, by being part of communities through a meaningful physical presence in communities. In 1826, the Bank of Scotland manager in Cercodi, angered customer David Landell, was challenged to a duo, accepted the challenge and lost. The bank lost a manager and could not even take possession of the gun that killed him. Follow your customers at your peril. Today's gun level at the bank merely is metaphorical but could be just as deadly. I call on Brian Whittle to be followed by Rhoda Grant. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I can also thank Kate Forbes for bringing this debate to the chamber. It has been highlighted already in the chamber today that those bank closures have a hugely detrimental effect on communities across the country, especially in the more rural towns in my area, such as Cymruc, Mochland and Governe. Moreover, it will disproportionately affect those who are most vulnerable, such as the elderly. In Governe, for instance, I heard from Age Concern, who will have to travel often by public transport to either Ayr or Stranraer, which takes hours. While we rightly call out those banks and lobby against those bank closures, I suggest that it is also important that we engage with the banks to try and develop solutions on the ground in the communities that are affected. For example, in Governe, when Age Concern highlighted their concern around the use of technology, I contacted RBS, who sent somebody along to a workshop and continued to do so with the Age Concern to try to address those concerns. Also, the route that the mobile banks are currently taking and their accessibility are under review in my area following feedback from constituents, and that has been passed on to the bank. Although it is absolutely right that we put as much pressure on the banks against those closures, I encourage members to engage with the banks to look at practical solutions that are available to try and mitigate the worst of those cuts while we continue to put the utmost pressure to bear from this place. My apologies. It is Claire Baker next to be followed by Fulton MacGregor. Thank you. The widespread bank closures are today facing a lot of criticism. Within my own region, the recent announcement of further RBS closures will rip local banking out of the heart of those communities. Villages and towns such as Comrake and Ross Allawa will now join Cowdenbeath, Burnt Island and Leven and have their branches closed and access to banking services restricted. 26 branches across all banks have closed already this year alone across my region. The banks argue that, as more people use online banking services, the branches are no longer viable, but many people rely on these banks, the elderly and the technology poor. Even if you are online, there are significant digital access challenges with broadband, connection speeds and Aberfeldy, Comrake and Ross and Pitlock rate in the bottom 20 per cent in the UK for download speed. There is also an assumption that people who use online banking no longer need a convenient branch, which is just not true. People still need to deposit cash, particularly those running small businesses. I spoke to a local solicitor this week who needs to deposit checks, for example, within a time pressure, and that will be extremely difficult for him, as there are only four branches off his bank that are left in the whole of Fife. People want to discuss their financial arrangements, whether it is loans, mortgages and savings, and have decisions made locally. We need to find a solution that ensures access to essential banking services. We cannot allow banking to be decimated across the country and there must be alternatives to that direction. Widespread bank closures only risk customer dissatisfaction and put unreasonable strain on bank employees, RBS and other high street banks to recognise the strength of public feeling and rethink those closures. Fulton MacGregor, followed by Gordon Lindhurst. I thank Kate Forbes as others have done. I echo what others have said by stating how disappointed I am that RBS has taken this decision to close 62 branches across Scotland. I am, however, grateful that the Coatbridge branch is not one of those, and I do not think that Coatbridge high street could take any more pain. Several high street bank closures already, the DWP ruthlessly moving hundreds of staff out of their town centre operation, among other factors, has led to me pulling together a stakeholder's group to work with the council and local business owners to try and desperately save their town centre. I thank the minister for his answers yesterday. However, in the time that I have today, I want to talk about the branch in my constituency that is closing in its steps. That is literally the last bank in town, but not just the last bank for that one town. Residents who currently use the steps branch will need to travel over three miles to Kirkntillock for their closest high street bank. Users will not just be from steps, but the surrounding villages of Crescent, Moody's Burn and Orkin Walk. For the elderly, disabled, those without their own transport and those in poverty, that is a real ardy challenge, and I urge RBS to consider all their customers' needs before taking this action. Those very people are also the ones who are most unlikely to know that their branch is closing. For example, on the day that the announcement was made, I went over to show my support to the staff. There was a queue of customers forming, mainly elderly, and I actually overheard them saying, oh, have you heard that the branch in Airdrie is closing, oblivious to the Airdrie One closing? I am sure that Alex Neil will pick that up in his speech. It went under the radar in steps, and that is why I have taken every opportunity that I can to raise it. Gordon Lindhurst, followed by Rhoda Grant. Deputy Presiding Officer, it gives me no pleasure to speak in this very important debate, and what I have to say echoes much of what has been said by others across the chamber. I have raised the issue in this Parliament a number of times, bank closures in Juniper Green and Bolerno in Lothian region. Yet again, it appears that elderly and disabled customers and others have been forgotten in the latest round of planned RBS closures. Banks appear to assume that their preferred option for banking, online platforms, will solve the problems of access to banking for everyone. They will not. That includes the RBS in Lynlithgow. An elderly resident of Lynlithgow told me about her upset at the RBS closure this past week. At least there is still the Bank of Scotland that I can go to, she said in a resigned fashion. At least one bank left for now, because within the week Santander also announced closure of its Lynlithgow branch, leaving both it and RBS with only two branches each in the whole of West Lothian. The Clyde Steel Bank branch in Lynlithgow that I used as a customer myself closed several years ago. I have, of course, sat with bank representatives discussing spreadsheets on branch usage and reams of statistics, showing how many or how few people use or don't use whichever particular branch is set for closure at that point in time. What they completely miss, in my view, is any attempt to provide an alternative plan for the way forward, whether on their own or in conjunction with other banks. I close with this point, and many, many points could be made. I echo what Mike Rumbles has said, which is that banks are not, in the same positions, ordinary private companies, least of all RBS. They are underwritten by the taxpayers who guarantee the deposits in their accounts. What is their plan for future provision of services to those people? I really have stopped with the aim, Mr Linton. Rhoda Grant, to be followed by Gillian Martin. Can I also congratulate Kate Forbes for securing the debate? Those closures will have a devastating impact on all of Scotland, but especially in the highlands and islands where 13 of those branches will close. The justification for those closures is cynical. We have the worst broadband in Scotland and indeed the UK, and therefore the ability to bank online is a distant dream rather than a reality. Possibly the worst of those proposals is the closure of the branch in Castle Bay. That means that people will have an over 20-mile drive and a ferry to catch to get to the bank and then they need to try and get back home again. It will probably mean that it will take the best part of a day for them to access the bank, not to mention the added cost of that. Added to that, it is the place where my constituents have some of the worst problems accessing broadband. What if the elderly people who cannot make the ferry journey to get their pension? While we are rightly concentrating on service provision, we must not forget the staff who work at those branches. They are losing their jobs because the distance that they would have to travel to an alternative branch would make relocation impossible. Neither do they have a hope of gaining a similar job because those are few and far between in rural communities. Those closures are being directed by the banks that we bailed out. The people making those decisions owe their own jobs to the communities that are now riding roughshod over it. It has to stop. The Westminster Government must intervene on behalf of us, the shareholders. Those banks belong to the people, they must make the people their priority. Gillian Martin, followed by Maurice Corry. My constituency, RBS, has announced plans to close branches in the towns of Elin and Tariff. Incredibly disappointing for local residents and businesses, we will now have to travel further to do their banking. Of course, closures like that help the elderly the most, but this morning I was contacted by 20-year-old Hannah Mackay, who is a student nurse and Tariff brownie leader, and she put the travel issue into context. She works 12-hour shifts and on her days off she does the banking for the brownie pack, involves many checks and cash. If RBS closes, she will have to travel 16 miles to Maud, where the only bus would get her 15 minutes before the branch closes, and there is not another bus for over three hours to get her back home. She is not hopeful that a visiting mobile van will ever be of any use to her given her shift pattern. Earlier this week, I met with the Tariff Business Association 60 businesses from across all sectors, and they have started a petition calling for the decision for RBS to be reversed. I have signed a petition and I fully support them and urge people in Tariff to give them their support as well, but I am very cynical about the effectiveness of that, because I was there myself in mint law earlier this year with councillor Jim Ingram trying to get Clydesdale bank to reverse their decision to close their branch there, the only bank in town where we are unsuccessful and we were only able to save an ATM. The public bailed out RBS in the banking crisis, and it is a duty to support residents who benefit from the local service. I urge the UK Government not to turn a blind eye and dismiss this as a commercial decision, as the MP for Gordon Colin Clark has done when he replied to me about the Ellen RBS closure. It is always rural towns that suffer the most when decisions like this are made. Maurice Corry, followed by Tom Arthur. I thank Kate Forbes for bringing this issue to the members' debate today, and it is very important that it is too. Banks provide a vital important service within our communities and most notable within the smaller towns and villages. The demographic of an area has a large part to play in the importance of retaining local bank branches with more elderly people and small businesses needing access to the local bank branches within the more rural areas and towns. Those people who visit branches do so regularly and need them for more pacific requirements. Recently, there have been a number of closures of various banks. In my region, it has included the Clydefield bank in Bersden and Helensburgh, Barclays of Closendon Barton and the RBS of Closendon Alexandria. Without the ability of residents to perform branch banking, it provides a notable and avoidable inconvenience and a potentially dangerous or harmful situation for more elderly and vulnerable people within our society in danger of community safety. With bank branches continuing to close, it forces people to withdraw cash in a less secure environment. In conclusion, I realise that internet banking is becoming much more popular, but there are still leaves many not using it and, in fact, as much as 50 per cent. Branches form an important part of our communities, and I implore the RBS directors to give that extremely serious consideration. Tom Arthur, followed by Ian Gray. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Let me begin by also thanking Kate Forbes for securing this debate. We have heard much talk about the last bank in town, and Renfrewshire South was down to the last bank in the constituency. We lost the RBS in Loch Winock in 2014 and we lost the RBS in Barhead last year as well. To add to that, we lost Clyde Steel in Johnson. We now have one RBS serving the whole of the Renfrewshire South constituency. This is not the first time a member of the Scottish Parliament for Renfrewshire South has had to raise that. My predecessor, Hugh Henry, in the members' debates that were secured by Neil Findlay three years ago, raised the very same issue. I thought that it was telling how he opened his speech. He said, to quote Ross McEwing, "...we need the chief executive of the RBS, we need to remember and then never forget that the customer is why we are in business." I think that, certainly for Mr McEwing, who the FT reports received the payment of £7 million last week, he is certainly in business. There has been a great deal of talk about the RBS, about people moving on to alternative platforms for banking, mobile banking and digital online. That is very well enabled. I will point to numbers of decreased input fault in the shops, but who are the people still going to use for local bank? That is not captured, because that is a policy that has been put together. It is a decision that seems to be predicated on the dead-eye dogma of bean counters, with absolutely no cognisance whatsoever for the needs of society. That is the wrong move that, as Stewart Stevenson very eloquently highlighted, banks have a social responsibility as well, and it is time that RBS, taxpayer-owned RBS, remembered that. Iain Gray, followed by Bruce Crawford. My thanks to Kate Forbes for obtaining the debate. I wish to use it to add on to the record the closure of RBS branches in Dunbar. To add to the record the closure of RBS branches in Dunbar and North Berwick in my constituency and to register the anger of my constituents in those towns at a bank to which many have shown loyalty over many years or even decades treating them so shabbily. It is not the first time that just over a year ago RBS closed their branch in pressing pans, leaving that town with no bank branch at all, while Bank of Scotland has done the same thing to Gillan. All of those branches are busy. Only a few days ago, I was told of queues out the door in North Berwick, and that was true of pressing pans a year ago as well, but still it was closed. Indeed, my constituents' experience of those branches jars with the picture RBS paints have deserted facilities shunned by switched on online customers. What jars too is the bank's PR and advertising image of a bank that serves customers and communities while it deserts so many of them and responds to their protests with contempt. What jars most of all is exactly how those banks looked to the public to save them when their own greed almost consumed them, and now they treat us with contempt. Those closures are not new, but they should be the straw that breaks the camel's back this time. We must find a way to stop them. Bruce Crawford, followed by Neil Findlay. My thanks to Kate Forbes and well done for bringing this before us today. The closure of RBS, Bannockburn, will create real challenges for that community, particularly elderly. That branch covers Bannockburn, Hill Park, Plain, Coway and Throsk, as well as Fallin. However, it does not have to be that way. Yesterday, during First Prime Minister's question, Theresa May brushed off calls to intervene on RBS closures, citing them as commercial decisions. The UK Government owns 73 per cent of RBS. The treasury has over 70 per cent voting rights. The influence is there, and our communities need the UK Government to use it. Those same RBS customers are the same taxpayers who bailed out the banks by billions of pounds. They helped to save it. Is this how they are to be treated? I say to the Tory Government that it is simply not just a commercial decision, it is a social travesty. You have the power. This bank was saved by taking money from the pockets of ordinary people. The UK Government owes those people a debt. It is time to start paying it back and stop them now. Neil Findlay, followed by Alec Neill. I have been on RBS's case for a long time. We have now just got two branches left in West Lothian, one in Midlothian and several in Edinburgh have closed, leaving vacant buildings on the high street. I have asked for meetings with the very well-remunirated Ross McEwn. He has refused. I have asked him to stop closures. I have asked him to hand over the buildings to the community and set up a legacy fund. He refused. Let me tell you why he refused those last two points. He said, and listen to this, that we have to secure the best return for shareholders. This is the bank that has fined £3.1 billion for mortgage misselling, £14.5 million for having poor mortgage records, £5.6 million for reporting failures, £56 million for computer failures, £5.6 million for failure-to-screen customers, £2.8 million for failing to handle complaints. He had to put aside £391 million for labour rate rigging, £1.3 billion to deal with repayments for businesses' missile products and £3.25 billion for PPI misselling. How is that value for shareholders, Mr McEwn? I have to ask you today. Let us not take any of their garbage about value for money for shareholders. They could hand every single building over to the community and give them £100,000, £200,000 or £1 million with every building and still it would not reach the value of the fines that they have had to pay out on our behalf as the shale hoarders. It is a disgrace, that is what they are. Every one of us should ask Mr McEwn for a meeting. He does not want to get out of his bunker. The last of the open debate speakers is Alex Neil. Thank you very much indeed, Deputy Presiding Officer. Again, can I congratulate Kate Forbes in getting the debate and in an excellent introductory speech? One of the things that is very obvious already, Presiding Officer, is that, despite all her protestations, the Royal Bank has no intention at the moment of changing its mind on any of the proposed closures. That is a totally outrageous situation. We have all sought meetings with Ross McEwn and other senior people in the bank. I have a suggestion to make, Presiding Officer. I think that all the people who have taken part in this debate should seek a joint meeting with Ross McEwn and get colleagues who want to join us and let them say no to the Scottish Parliament as a corporate body, not to pick us off as individuals. It is high time that those banks and those big corporations accept that they have a social responsibility as corporations and, particularly, corporations that are in the public sector have a special responsibility to the communities and their shareholders. In my constituency, the RBS shut its shots branch last year. The building is still sitting empty. It has refused to hand it over to the community, and now it is going to close the Erdie branch. It does not care about those communities. Despite all the adverts and the propaganda, it is doing nothing for us. I say, Presiding Officer, that let us get together, cross-party, cross-parliament, as one delegation and demand a meeting with McEwn. In order to allow the ministers to respond to this debate, I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by a short time. May I ask Kate Forbes to move a motion without notice? I move. The question is that the debate be extended. Are we all agreed? I am sure that the minister is quite relieved at that. I thank Kate Forbes for raising today's motion. I appreciate greatly that Ms Forbes and many other members have sincerely felt genuine concerns, as has been demonstrated today, over the Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement that 62 branches are to close. Not only in Ms Forbes's constituency, but across the whole of Scotland, as we have been hearing. Indeed, in my own patch, as Rachel Hamilton has said, six of the eight branches in the Scottish Borders are to close. Kate Forbes is correct to identify that the UK Government retains legislative and regulatory responsibility for banking and financial services, and, as a number of members have said, is the majority shareholder in RBS. Indeed, Kenny Gibson and Kate Forbes have made that point strongly, as has Alex Neil in his powerful speech. However, the Scottish Government stands ready to work with UK ministers, the bank and other stakeholders to support and reassure customers in light of those plan closures. That is not to say that we are happy with the closures and, in my first preference, Cooley, the Government's first preference for those branches to stay open, and I very much hear the comments that have been made today. Concerns have been raised about the impact of branch closures in our local communities. Those closures will be a body blow to many communities across Scotland, leaving many areas with significantly reduced branch coverage and, indeed, the availability of banking services. Mike Rumbles A genuine question that I raise on that point. Could you, as minister, not get together with all the banks that service in Scotland and get them to the heads together? Because those decisions have been taken by each bank in isolation to each other, and they need to work together? Paul Wheelhouse I was planning to address that, but I will take that point head on now, because Mr Rumbles has fairly raised it. I would want to reassure Mr Rumbles, and all members in the chamber, indeed, that Mr Whittle made a similar point here about trying to find practical solutions. I just want to reassure Mr Rumbles and others that we are engaging the RBS on that we are not just accepting that the bank is going to pull out and leave nothing behind, and we are trying to liaise with the bank about what they can do as a legacy if branches are to close. I repeat the point that I would rather they did not, but if the article is to find a practical solution and the point that Mr Rumbles raised about thinking about a community hub, it is something that we have already raised with RBS about how to use the States. I was aware of Mr Finlay's previous point if I may. Neil Findlay I wonder if the minister would help members by agreeing that no minister will facilitate or any member will facilitate any corporate functions in his building for RBS until they come to the table and have discussions with members about what they are up to. Paul Wheelhouse As the member knows, I hear the point that Mr Finlay raised, and I am very much aware of his long-standing interest in this issue. I do not govern what happens in the Scottish Parliament, should the Presiding Officer be the first to say that. I take the point entirely. We are trying to make the point to RBS that there is a reputational issue here that they are suffering in the Court of Public Opinion. They are suffering in the Court of this Chamber's opinion as well, and I am sure that it is not lost in them the strength of feeling that we have heard today. In our view, the UK Government should not be a passive bystander if we have made that point. We believe that it should take immediate action to defend customers and ensure that communities—in particular, the most vulnerable members of those communities—are very powerfully made by Marie Gougeon, who made the point about those with learning disabilities in particular. Those communities need to be protected and to have access to day-to-day banking services. We understand that many customers are now choosing to access banking services in different ways, but, as many members have said today, that is not true for all customers. Many customers for whom it is quite frightening to go online because they hear stories of online fraud and other issues, and they need reassurance. We know that services do not yet meet the needs of all customers, and for some time to come, banks must continue to offer services to all customers in a way that suits those needs. There are often sensitive issues that need to be discussed in the context of a bank about bereavement, redundancy and other matters. You would not want to be standing in a queue at a post office waiting for someone behind you to get stance while talking to someone over the counter, but something is very sensitive. Clearly, face-to-face contact in a private space is still a core part of what banking services need to provide. Last week, I spoke with Stephen Barkley, the economy secretary, to the Treasury to press the case for a guaranteed level of access to essential banking services. We recognise that commercial decisions are taken, but where regulation is in place, that creates a level playing field, and it also provides the context in which those commercial decisions are made. We believe that there is a role for regulating to ensure that there is a minimum standard of banking services left when banks do close branches. The UK Government has made clear that, unfortunately, it will not, despite having a majority stake in the Royal Bank, exercise its influence at this time, and it might need to be pressured to do more on that front. I recognise the support of the Conservative members of the chamber for taking action on that. I appreciate that RBS does not and must operate on a commercial basis, but, as we say, we believe that there is a role for regulation here. We also believe that the UK Government should ensure that robust alternative options are in place before it allows those closures to take place. We are prepared to play our part in that. We are not expecting entirely to fall to others, but I acknowledge the work that banks are doing with post office to expand services that are available to their customers through the network. However, as a number of members have said, post office is able to offer a basic banking service. Businesses in particular have concerns over cash deposits, with a barrier that most post offices are only able to offer up to £2,000 worth of cash being deposited at any one time, which is a real barrier for those businesses and tourism-located businesses that are in rural areas such as Cape Forb's own constituency. They will face real challenges if the majority of their trade is conducted in cash. I spoke with senior RBS staff on Friday 1 December, immediately following the banks announcement. I spoke again to the bank yesterday, Simon Watson, who is the head of retail banking, and asked the bank to give further consideration to support that will provide to customers affected by those closures. I welcome the commitment to provide training and support to customers in setting up and using digital services. There is more that I can say on that, but not yet liberty to do so. In some areas, however, there will continue to be challenges in digital access. A number of members have raised that, and I have urged Royal Bank to take that into account, because I do not believe that it has been sufficiently taken into account to date. Not least, the difficulties in accessing reliable Wi-Fi or 4G service in large parts of rural Scotland, and indeed urban Scotland. RBS maintains that it has made changes to its mobile banking fleet to allow it to serve a greater range of locations. Jenny Gilruth and others have raised legitimate concerns about the availability of those mobile banking units at convenient times for customers. That is again something that we urge the Royal Bank to take on board. I agree very much with the remarks that have been said today. I have also asked the bank to give further thought to the future, as I said to Mike Rumbles, of the branches that are to close. We believe that there is room for collaboration between not just RBS but other banks, IFAs, tax advisers and others, potentially, to provide a hub that should provide a step change and maybe the availability of financial advice to members of the community. There could be a good opportunity to come out of that, but I want permission from the rising officers to say something about staff, because I do not want to leave the debate without saying something of that. The plan closures, as a number of said, affect the bank's customers and their staff. I had a very constructive meeting this week with representatives of Unite to discuss the impact of those closures on their members. I agree wholeheartedly with Kate Forbes' praise of the staff and how they are handling this and supporting customers at a difficult time. The bank has indicated up to 160 jobs at a risk as a result of those announcements, but that is in full-time equivalent terms. Because of the nature of the part-time employment in the banks, there is potentially a Unite estimate that up to 350 people will be affected by the redundancy programme and the potential for voluntary redundancy options. As Rhoda Grant has said, there is a real practical difficulty for those in remote rural locations. They will have no alternative RBS site that is perhaps practical for them with caring responsibilities or other geographic barriers to reach them. Unite have made it clear that they are also concerned about the impact of those closures on communities and we will work closely with Unite. In conclusion, as members have done today, I urge RBS to listen to what is being said today and reflect on the remarks. Work with us where it can do so to try to provide a long-term solution to those communities affected by the closure of the last branch in town. We are certainly on record today that we are appetite to do that and to help those communities, the staff who are affected and RBS itself to come out of that with a better reputation and the risk at this moment in time. Thank you very much. That concludes the debate. Can I ask members to clear the chamber quickly please to allow it to be prepared for this afternoon? This meeting is suspended until 2 o'clock.


What's going on and welcome to the NBA DFS Q&A show. My name is Tom Vecchio. I'll be here for the next 30 minutes taking your questions about tonight's NBA Slate. As always, this is found every Wednesday on the Fandle YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook pages. You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. We have a six game slate tonight. It's looking pretty good. We have a lot of value and that value has changed throughout the day because we have a massive amount of updates when it comes to injury information. So very recently, we just saw the norm power for the Clippers. He plans to play. The report from Mojenowski is that a final determination will be made prior to pre-game, pre-game warm-ups. How many minutes will he be playing? Will he be in the starting lineup? Those are two important questions. And then for the Suns, they ruled out Jay Crowder, Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, four out of there, five starters. We saw David Mitchell, Mike Connelly all ruled out. And on top of that, we have Zach Levine, Tatum Brown listed as probable. Bob Donovich is questionable. Gallinari is questionable, et cetera, et cetera. So we are in a spot where the value that we had in the morning has slightly changed for tonight. We're still waiting for some final updates. Let's hop right in. DJ on Facebook is asking a six man question. The classic, who's coming off the bench? Who could be in a spot to play? Big minutes put up plenty of points. I think we're at a number of ones I'm gonna go back to Bob Donovich. As always for the Hawks, they have plenty of motivation. He continues to knock down some three corners, which we love to see giving him that nice scoring upside. So looking through some of the teams that have a motivation of what they can or cannot be clinching, moving around in terms of seeding, that's very important these final few days of the season. So always looking to that is a good indication of where we're gonna be seeing minutes. So he's always an option. I guess now because Jordan Clarkson is going to be in the starting lineup with Trent Forrest is listed as questionable. So Forrest plays, I'll have interest in him because his role should be elevated coming off the bench. Now that Jordan Clarkson would be in the starting lineup. So that's something to keep in mind. But we also can be looking to Bismarck, the Anbo or Tory Craig for the Suns simply due to the volume of minutes they could be playing because four of their five starters for the Suns are ruled out. So that's where it'd be going initially right now. Also always looking to Derek White for some nice scoring upside for the Celtics. He's been a very nice pickup for them at the trade deadline. Saban on YouTube is asking, how's it going? Favorite bets for today in the sports book. So I've only made two bets today. Smaller slate, trying to keep things tight, especially at the end of the season. I'm big on Dwight Powell today for the Dallas Mavericks. I spoke about him on the Daily ISO. I took the over on 20.5 on his PRA, points, rebounds, assist. A little bit of juice there sitting at minus 113. Love this matchup for him going up against Detroit. We do see the Mavericks as a team that still has something to play for. So we should see their starters out there for a full set of minutes. We've seen some good stuff from Powell in recent games, not expecting him to go for 22 and 13 as he did in the most recent game against Milwaukee. I think that's a little bit of an outlier. I'm expecting something more around this range, his normal output of double digit points, getting close to double digit rebounds in some of these games and getting too close to the over on 20 and a half. So that's the first bet I made. I know it's probably gonna be close, but I really do like this matchup against Detroit, not worried about their defense and obviously plenty of motivation for the Mavericks. And then the second bet that I made was Trey Young, the over on his three pointers. Going to that, Trey Young over three and a half, shooting for that plus money. Hawks lost last night. They are another team that has motivation. They can move up or down in the standings in the final few days. Matchup against the Warriors is a good one. So I've made two bets, very simple. Trey Young over three corners, white pal over PRA. You know, it's a smaller six game slate, but I was much to choose from. Want to be very selective in the bets that I'm making. Savanna is also asking, how would you stack slash use OKC for value? So last night for OKC, what's the best way to look at this? Let's just bring up OKC because last night they had what is realistically a six man rotation last night. They played seven players, but it's realistically a six man rotation where waters came off the bench and one played four minutes. So their starters are out there for nearly the entire game outside a bit critchy. And then Olivier Sar came off the bench, played 30 minutes. So this is realistically a six man rotation. It actually could be slightly extended tonight. Maybe if we see Poku back in there. But when it comes to the value for OKC, basically everyone's going to be in play simply just due to that volume of minutes. So Poku's in there. We want to be going there, but he's obviously not a value play. Georgios Kalizakis, who was assigned yesterday, could be in for a big set of minutes. So I'd be certainly going to him. Jaylen Horde had a massive game last night, not expecting a 20-20 game from him again, but for him, Simpson, and if big critchy is out there, I'll be going to them. So three players that could realistically see 35, 38, 40 plus minutes, all under $5,000, those are the players from OKC I would be going. I think not only there for OKC, but we also have to look at the potential value for the Suns now, because four of their starters have been ruled out. So this is going to be their projected starting line of campaign Landry Schermet, Mikhail Briggs, Cam Johnson, Javail McGee, immediate value for them with Mikhail Briggs at $5,600, being the most expensive option. Campaign should be a very, very popular option along with Cam Johnson. I like Bismock-Biambo potentially coming off the bench for them at $3,800. It's not like Javail McGee's going to be out there for the entire game. We have seen Bismock-Biambo. He was actually very productive earlier in the season when Bolch Javail McGee and Jandre Aitin were out. We saw a Biambo putting up some double-double. So I like him coming off the bench at $3,800. So despite it being a smaller six-game slate, there's a lot of value tonight. And I think it leads me in one direction as I mentioned on the podcast, which would be not paying up a center. And I think the value that we now have potentially with McGee or going to Bismock-Biambo just leads me to trying to jam in Luca Trey Young, Kevin Durant. That's realistically where I want to be going. I like rostering Luca at shooting guard simply just due to the positional eligibility so I can get some value at point guard. I'm still gonna be big on Ishmith for Washington. He's been looking great in recent games. So really going to Young, Luca and Durant as my main three. And you can pay for three players over 10.4 tonight. That's a great option. Brandon on Facebook is asking, is Bridges a must-play since the Phoenix players are out? I don't think he's a must-play. I think you want to be getting some exposure to Phoenix overall. It's not like one of them is going to be a must-play. If I have to choose, I'm gonna be taking, I'll be taking campaign at point guard. That's ultimately where I want to be going. If I have to choose a must-play out of Phoenix, it's gonna be campaign for him, for me at Phoenix for a must-play and then probably Cam Johnson. Those are the two top for me. McKayle Bridges is certainly fine. He's a player that I love rostering just because he can do so much, knock down some threes, add in some steals and some blocks, but campaign would be my number one value from the Phoenix Suns. Grimm is also asking, Landry Schemit, Jalen Horde, who has more value? So let's just, so Schemit is 39. Let's just see, are their salaries the same? Whoops, thunder. 45, so I would take Landry. I would take every bit of salary relief I can to boost this potential remaining because I think Horde is certainly fine. There's no doubt about it, but I would take just a little bit of savings with Landry there. DJ is asking about the three by twos tonight, the two plus threes in the first three minutes. Looking to the Knicks net is good. It's a little bit of juice at 132, which is, you know, that's okay, depending on how much you want to lay. I would certainly look to the Hawks and the Wizards. I guess this goes in line with my pretty young debt, not surprised to see him knock down some threes. Bulls and the Celtics only a minus one of four. You know, Jazz Thunder, this game I would say I'm probably not interested in, you know, especially that we don't have Donva Mitchell out there. So that's probably not a game I'd be going to. Knicks net I think is clearly number one, but it has a little bit of juice. I'd be going there and probably the Hawks and then the Bulls probably in this order. One, two, three. If you're willing to lay the juice or you want to throw it in a parlay, it obviously won't matter at that point. You know, plus two 58, it's not bad. I mean, plus 600, that boosts it up a little bit, but these are probably my two favorite for the Knicks and the Nets and then the Hawks for the three by two. So when you're looking at the value on tonight's slate, I think we're going to see some pretty similar value options obviously, but I also think we're going to see that, you know, transition into pretty popular or pretty consistent roster builds because there's no one top tier really at center to pay up or if you want to go to Rudy Gubair or poor Zingis, I think that's fine. I don't have a whole, you know, a ton of interest in Vucevich tonight. And in fact, you know, I kind of made a case against poor Zingis on the podcast today because his minutes have slightly trended down where he broke, you know, past 30 minutes in a few of these games for the Wizards, but it's the final week of the season. And now we're seeing him under 30 minutes in four straight, in five straight games. They're on the second night of a back to back. He's 8,900. So I'm slightly concerned about poor Zingis, his minutes overall and his ability to reach value. So I'm not really looking to poor Zingis. You can make the case for Gubair because this matchup going up against OKC is obviously very easy. No one's doubting that it's not easy. There's obviously a little, you know, a little bit of extra usage in the offense because Donvid Mitchell and Mike Conley are out, but he's still $8,800 in a game that has a 15-and-a-half point spread. So I'd rather take some of the mid-tier like Andre Drummond or simply drop down and take some of this value. Dwight Powell is 4,900. Theombo, 38, and of course, Javail McGee at 35. So Min salary guy, Javail McGee in the starting lineup really just helps with roster instruction overall. Again, prioritizing the guards and the forwards on tonight's slate is not going to be like a hot take. That's not going to be a shocker for a lot of people that are gonna be paying up for as many of these top stars that can fit into one lineup. Grimm is also asking rank starting value, Tomas Satoransky, Zaire Simpson, Jordan Clarkson and Marcus Smart thinking starting Tomas Satoransky and Marcus Smart. So I made a case for Marcus Smart tonight because this is a game environment that I really like. It's close spread. The bulls are, I don't want to say desperate, but the bulls certainly haven't looked amazing in some of these recent games. Their defense is certainly lacking. We know that Marcus Smart is probably the option for the Celtics, among their starters that's probably gonna be going a bit overlooked. I'm not gonna be expecting him to go massively overlooked but of course, Tatum and Brown should be the most popular options for them but Smart simply does so much. So Satoransky I think is fine when you're looking at the point guard position overall I would certainly look to go from 4,500 trying to get to campaign at 49 if you have that flexibility. I think he's gonna be a better overall play tonight so I would try and find $400 to go from Smart and Satoransky to Smart and Payne tonight. Born to Laugh is asking start Daniel Tice for the Boston Celtics. Generally not a player I go to. Just doesn't have enough offensive usage. Obviously this is a smaller sample size for the Celtics but he's not a player I particularly like. We're not gonna see him producing a whole lot that's a very small sample size so not really looking there. If you're at that same salary at $4,900 I'm big on Dwight Powell tonight. So if you can find if you, $200 from 4,700 to 4,900 I think Dwight Powell is a much better option going up against Detroit. A player that's producing over one thing to a point per minute for the Mavericks. He's at 1.06 before I look. See, it's at 1.06 for Dwight Powell. It's a modest usage rate but he's getting it done. And this is a decent sample size over 300 minutes for Dallas so I would look to pivot from Tice to Dwight Powell at 4,900. It's only a $200 difference that probably shouldn't impact your roster instruction of course the same position eligibility center slash power forward for both of them. So I'm looking to get Dwight Powell in there. He's an option that I like. You can certainly look to change some of these top stars if you wanna prioritize getting Kyrie Irving. You wanna take a little bit of savings there. He's only $8,600 which I think we would all say is pretty affordable. If you wanna go to Tatum or to Martin Rosen I think those are certainly fine options but Trey Young, Luca, Durant are my top options. They all have motivational play. They're all looking to secure their seeding. They're not looking to move down in seeding obviously. So that's important great game environment between Washington Atlanta, Brooklyn and New York that actually should just be fun just due to the rivalry. But I think we're gonna see plenty of points in that game. So I'm liking this game particularly for a lot of points as the overrunner would indicate up at 2.29 which is the second highest on the slate. Not a shock there. I think we should see RJ Barrett be very popular. I think they're going to have him for me. Makes nice option as well for his three point upside. You have the same question on Simpson, any value? So Simpson, if he's gonna be in the starting lineup for OKC, I think he's a, what is it? Yeah, point guard around. I think he's a fine option at 4,700. At certain, there's nothing wrong with going to him. At this salary tier, I'm simply prioritizing a few players ahead of him. I like paying ahead of him. If I can get up a few more $100 to Jordan Clarkson at 53, depending on how tight your rush of instruction is $600 if you can get there, I prefer Clarkson and Payne over Simpson. That's really where I'd be going. That's what comes down to him. And frankly, Seth Curry, if you're looking to just take the player because he has positional eligibility, he's not on the injury report today. So he should be good to go. It's in here somewhere. Seth Curry, not on the injury report. So he's gonna be in the starting lineup or should be in the starting lineup for the next. So I like the $4,000 salary on him. It's looking like a good matchup for scoring overall. So the value ultimately on tonight's slate is somewhat of splitting hairs. It's also the same thing for some of the top tier players. You're splitting hairs here between Luca and Trey Young. I simply want to get both of them in my lineup because the 60-70 point potential from both of them is there. Kim Durant had a modest game last night in the grand scheme of things. We saw Kyrie have a huge game, but I'm expecting big points from him. They need him out there. They need to be securing wins as well. They can in theory move up if Cleveland continues to lose. They also can move down if Atlanta wins tonight in a winnable match against Washington. So the team behind them or the team that they're tied for, I guess, they're very, very aware that the Hawks can move up and they can move down. All the seating when it comes to the playing is important in the last, what is this, five days of the season? Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, yeah. So five days of the NBA season. Like this is very, very important. Hopefully there's no major updates when it comes to injury for the rest of the slate. If Norm Powell plays and he's in the starting lineup for the Clippers, it comes down to how many minutes he's gonna play.  If he's all the way up at 30 minutes, like he's not in a spot to be limited in any capacity. That's the spot I would have interest in going to him, but if we don't have clarity on how many minutes he'll be playing, I'm probably very hesitant to go to Norm Powell in any capacity, probably in literally any capacity. It's a bit of a jump to go from 66 to 7,600 to get to RJ Barrett. I mean, Mikhail Bridges taking $1,000 of savings is a spot I'd rather go. There's no like direct pivot away from him because if Powell's in the starting lineup, Roco should probably be coming off the bench for the Clippers. So I would have very, very limited interest in Powell if he's not gonna be on a full set of minutes, simply just due to, you know, his inability to reach value if he's not playing a full set of minutes. Do you expect Ayodo Sumo to go nuts with Levina? Levine is listed as probable, right? Levine, oh yeah, Levine's listed as probable here. Let's give this a refresh. Levine was out last night. So just double check that because, yeah, Powell, there's no update on Zach Levine. He's listed as probable. So that's one thing I would double check wherever you saw that news that Zach Levine is out because he's officially listed as probable. I'm gonna be sticking with Derosin and Levine when it comes to the bulls. They need to get their scores going against the Celtics who are, you know, frankly, the better team. Well, that's what we see Ms. Rhodes favorites. So Ayodo Sumo is not an option. I'm truly considering tonight. His salary is obviously wonderful, that low, but I think there would be probably a variety of options I'd be considering ahead of him. He's, yeah, shouldn't guard only $3,600. So $3,600 all the way down here. I mean, Landry's $3,900. I mean, I think that's the clear play to get to. Seth Curry again, only $4,000. I'd probably be trying to find the $300 to try and get to Landry Schumann at 39 over Dosumo. Oh, Lonzo Ball out for the season. Yeah, that news was came out earlier, right? That Lonzo's out. I don't think that's too much of an issue. Like he's been out for a while and they've been kind of running with this rotation for, I mean, definitely weeks, but multiple months at this point for Lonzo being out for the rest of the season. You know, frankly, what it comes down to for Dosumo is that he's not the highest offensive usage player. He can be consistent based on his salary, but you know, whether he's in the starting line or not, whether Levine has been in around some of his games, he has a pretty modest amount of production in the grand scheme of things where, you know, mid-20s, maybe 30s is where he's reaching his upper ceiling, but he's more realistically in the low 20s to high teens for production. So just because they get the final confirmation that ball is out, it doesn't really change things for Dosumo when balls already been out for, you know, a good portion of the season. So when it comes to the balls, I look to DeRose and I look to Levine for that high volume shots. I look to Vusevich in certain matchups. Tonight is not one of them. I often look to Vusevich when it's a loaded slate because I think he's a player that can go overlooked at times. You know, whether or not he's gonna be popular tonight really does an impact in my decision-making of how, if I want exposure to him. And frankly, I probably want zero exposure to him and just simply removing him from the player pool because I want to be focusing in on the mid-tier plays with Andre Drummond or dropping down and taking the value with Dwight Powell, with Javelin McGee or Bismock-Biambo just to kind of aid in the roster construction process which would be prioritizing Trey Young, Luca and Kevin Durant tonight. Who is Sumo? Ayo Dosumo, the shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls right here. He's been a good value play this year at times. You know, earlier in the year, he was certainly crushing a lot of assist props that was on for a good portion of the year. But, you know, their offensive usage has changed a little bit and we still see DeRose and Levine leading the way. Caruso is back in the lineup. That, you know, slightly changed things for their rotation as well. Pat Williams is now back on the starting lineup, et cetera, et cetera. So I'm not really looking to Dosumo at all tonight. You know, as always, it comes down to having a tight group of value plays that I like prioritizing the top tier players that I want and, you know, filtering in a good amount of the mid-range plays. There's a lot of value on tonight's slate. You know, RJ Barrett is a player that I really want exposure to. It's tough because I have to be prioritized one of the top tier stars and get to RJ Barrett, which, you know, changes the natural roster instruction. So if you want to get RJ Barrett in and you want to get to, so Zaire, he's a point guard only. So these are some of the things that you have to, you know, go through. So I would go to Shaman and listen, $7,000 for two players remaining. You have Young, you have Durant, you have RJ Barrett, you have plenty of value in there. But that's looking pretty solid. You know, getting a player in the mid-range like RJ Barrett that can reach for a higher ceiling changes things when it comes to your line of construction. Also changes things, like if you're going to Derosen and Tatum tonight, and obviously it's a good amount of savings dropping down and taking 2K of savings. Brian is asking, Brian on Facebook is asking Jason Tatum and Al Horford. I'm always a fan of Jason Tatum. Always, always a fan of Tatum. Why? One because he's the high usage player, but this volume of shots is beyond consistent. He's taken plenty from downtown. Sure, he's been a little bit inconsistent from the three pointers in recent games, one of five, three of nine, oh of five. But with his volume this high, when he gets going for four, five, six, three pointers, and he just does a, you know, amazingly consistent job of filling up a stack sheet. I'm always a fan of Jason Tatum. This is a player that can outperform his salary, you know, on any given night. And like I said, the bulls are struggling on defense recently. This is why we see the Celtics as seven point road favorites. This is also a potential playoff atmosphere, you know, playoff matchups or playoff type atmosphere wouldn't be too much of a surprise. Now, when it comes to Al Horford for the Celtics, we obviously want clarity that he will be playing. He's also been consistent as of late. I'm not really worried about the matchup overall versus the Chicago Bulls. It really comes down to who you're prioritizing in this tier. And for me, when it comes to my roster construction of how I'm prioritizing players, Al Horford's kind of in this, you know, no man's land where he's not a value play. He's not a top tier, so it's tough to get him in. I have no issues with him going to, if you're going to go to him tonight, I think he's in a great matchup. I think he'll see plenty of production out there. For me, I'm simply looking, you know, above him and below him when it comes to salary. So always a green light on Tatum. I think it's, you know, a green light if you're looking to prioritize Al Horford tonight, I'm not worried about him producing. It's just not fitting into my personal line of construction tonight when I'm, you know, prioritizing some of the guards and I need to find value at the forward positions. So that's what it comes down to. It's really just a preference thing. And for me, the preference tonight would be Luca, Young and Durant's. That's really it. And that means I need to find value and I simply just don't have the, or if I roster Durant at small forward, it means I need to find value at the powerful position. And I simply can't afford to play Al Horford. That's mostly what it comes down to. So if there's no other injury updates, Levine Probable is always good to see. Players being listed as Probable is always good. Update on Norman Powell Minutes is something that we're gonna need some clarity on. I assume he'll be in the starting line if he's good to go. Woj, Wojnowski on Twitter said that he's expected to go. He plans to play. They're gonna make one final check before his, you know, pregame routine, et cetera, et cetera. That'd be one thing to check from Norman Powell if you're looking there. The immense value lies with the Phoenix Suns tonight. You can be legitimately going to any five of their starters. I'm personally going to campaign as number one overall. Then Cam Johnson, then Probable Landry, then Bridges in that order. Of course, Javier McGee is gonna be in there because of the salary relief that he offers. And again, fitting into roster instruction overall. The Thunder also offer immense value. We just need an update on who's gonna be available for them because they had, it was only like 10 players dressed last night or whatever it was. And they only ended up playing six of them. So some clarity on the Thunder would be good for the bets that I made tonight. I've only made two, you know, it's a smaller slate when, you know, kind of keep things tight, be selective, Dwight Powell over 20 and a half PRA. Little bit of juice there. Love this matchup against Detroit. Pace-up spot for the Mavericks. They are 30th in the league in offensive pace. While we see Detroit sitting up at 13th, it's an easy matchup. The Mavericks have plenty of motivation, et cetera, et cetera. All those things are good to see. The Atlanta Hawks, Trey Young over three and a half, made threes at plus 128. Those are the two bets I made. Trey Young and the Hawks also have motivation. They need to be securing their seeding when it comes to the play in there, of course, locked into it, whether or not they get to eight or nine or 10, whatever it might be. They have motivation. They lost last night. This is a winnable matchup against the Wizards. But I think obviously outperformed a bit last night against the Timberwolves. So a lot of value on tonight's slates. Again, I think we're gonna see some pretty similar line of builds just because the value pushes you in a certain direction, depending on where you are getting that value, whether it's at the guard position or at the center slash power forward position, it's just gonna naturally cause you to spend up at the opposite. So if you wanna get to Porzingis, I think that's fine. Again, not a player. I'm personally prioritizing on tonight's slate. I don't love his minutes being scaled back in recent games under 30 minutes in five straight games and his salary is still up at $9,000. When he was $7,500, when he recently returned and he was still under 30 minutes, that's okay. Because he's obviously a little bit cheaper, but his minutes being scaled back ended being closer to the end of the season. I'm not gonna be surprised if you only placed 25 minutes tonight. So I'm not going to Porzingis due to that.  Not worried about the match against OKC. Again, just naturally fitting into the lineup builds does not work for Rudy Gopar. How high can the Bulls get? Standings-wise, that I don't know off the top of my head. I don't know every possible permutation of the standings. Like if they went out and the Raptors lose out, I guess they could jump to five. I don't think they can jump to four just because there's not enough games left for them. They have, they make up four wins for the, can they make that up? They only have three wins. So they only have three games remaining. So they can't make up four. So the best they could get is five. And that, and, you know, of course, the Raptors would have to lose. So they do have motivation. I don't know if Cleveland can catch them like this. Are they locked into the play-in or the, I don't know if they can catch them. And I assume that the self or the, yeah, they can catch them. So they're locked into six at most five and it's only if the Raptors lose. So they technically do have motivation to get to five, but how much of a difference does that make in the grand scheme of things when they're, you know, would they end up playing Milwaukee or into playing the semi-sixers? I mean, you know, kind of pick your poison at that point for Chicago. I think they need to figure things out defensively before they're worried about, you know, losing one game or trying to pick up one extra game when it's going to be a tough matchup regardless. So tight value on tonight's slate. Don't go too crazy with the player pool. Prioritize the top tier options. And again, the two bets that I made Dwight Powell over 20 and a half PRA and Trey Young over three and a half made three pointers. Both players with motivation, both players in good matchups to get that done. So we will have a, we have an MLB show playing for tomorrow, obviously MLB opening day will be live about an hour before the first game going over some bets for those, that seven games slate tomorrow for MLB opening day. As always, you can find this on the Fandle, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook pages. You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. And until next time, good luck in your contests. All right.


Tic-Tac has been amazing, super inspirational, this is really really hard work, so being able to come and meet other people that are doing good work that is inspiring is really like replenishing to your soul. I'll go home with like a ton of connections, so many things to share with my team back at home and my network. It's been great to be back at Tic-Tac, second year in a row. I was at Lisbon and I feel like this year has been a lot of improvement. Organization, amount of time and concentration that has been put into planning of the session, ideas of the previous ones, it's been quite excellent. If Civic Tech is achieving the purpose for which it's been discovered, evolving and being put to useful. This event never disappoints you, you get to learn so much, you get to meet a lot of new people and see how they're innovating in their own spaces, their own countries. It's a great learning curve and I hope that this event keeps on happening every year. Tic-Tac is for me really a place where I can meet a lot of really cool interesting people who know about technology, who know about society, who know about public interest and can combine all of that and come with pieces of knowledge and insights that are really useful in my work on a daily basis.


Hello, everyone. I'll be presenting a paper on utility of indirect science of ACL tier in MRI of the knee. A retrospective study on 30 patients with partial or complete ACL tier. I'm Dr. Chakshu Bhattra, final year PG, SGT Medical College Hospital and Research Institute Guru Ram. The aims and objectives are to determine the sensitivity of secondary science of ACL tier in both partial and complete ACL tiers. With science should be used as an adjunct to add confidence to the diagnosis of ACL tier and should be looked for in doubtful cases or in direct non visualization of ACL due to adjacent edema or error in image acquisition. The study is a retrospective study including 30 patients 22 with a full thickness ACL tier and eight with a partial thickness ACL tier. The MRI knee examination of all patients was done using a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine in the department of radio diagnosis at City Medical College Hospital Guru Ram. Most operative cases and patients with any underlying bony fractures or intra-articular inflict infections were excluded from the study. Patients of all ages and both sexes were included in the study. anterior cruciate ligament is the most commonly injured ligament of the knee. It is intra capsular but extra synovial. It is composed of two bundles and anterior medial bundle and a posterior lateral bundle. Attachments are to the inner aspect of little femoral condyle and intra-condyler eminence of tibia. The primary role of ACL is to provide stability to the knee joint. It resists anterior translocation and internal rotation of tibia over the femur. It also limits hyperextension of the knee. ACL injury is associated with anterior lateral instability of the knee joint. By image ACL, the clinical examination depends on the ability to demonstrate anterior tibial motion relative to a fixed femur in tests like latchman test, anterior drawer test and pivot shifts test. However, these tests have very low sensitivity and specificity and are difficult to perform because of pain and guarding sensation in the patient. MRI is the main imaging modality used to visualize ACL injury. It can diagnose ACL sprain, partial tear, complete tear, site of the tear, cognitive of fibres and evaluation of ACL graft reconstruction with the detailed anatomical details of the surrounding structures. The direct signs of ACL tear are discontinuity of the fibres which can be focal or diffuse, a T2 high signal intensity either in class substance or as a surrounding mass. An abnormal contour of the ACL, it could be wavy or making a more than 15 degrees angle to the plumen site's line. These direct signs are usually sufficient and have both high sensitivity and specificity for accurate diagnosis of ACL tear. However, pitfalls have been identified on direct ACL imaging. A line is drawn along the roof of the intercondyler notch of femur and another line is drawn along the posterior fibres of the ACL. The angle made between these two lines is known as the ACL plumen site angle. In an abnormal plumen site angle, the tip of the triangle is pointed downwards and the angle is more than 15 degrees. Then it is known as an abnormal ACL plumen site angle which is an indicator of ACL tear. Some pitfalls and direct ACL imaging are discontinuity with gap formation is not always visible. Locating a tear, grading a tear is sometimes difficult due to adjacent hemorrhage and edema. A tear may not give a detailed image of ACL near its insertion site as it is ACL is short, thin and angulated. And most common is the indirect scanning techniques, especially the oblique sagittal images by the radiology technicians. Indirect or secondary signs have immense importance in such cases. The secondary signs which are included in the study are bony contusions, complete a tear or a grade two signal in the medial meniscus, anterior translation of tibia, uncovered posterior horn of lateral meniscus, hyper intensity in the tibia, pericruciate fat pad, a very particular tendon sign, other signs like PCL buckling sign, associated cigars fracture, associated joint diffusions have also been mentioned. ACL tear is associated with medial collateral ligament injury and medial meniscus tear. This is termed as the unhappy dried up or don't know. Bony contusions are most common in the posterior femoral condyle and the posterior lateral aspect of the intercondyline notch of tibia. Contusions in both these areas are highly specific for ACL tear. Complete tear of ACL is when the signal intensity reaches one of its articular surfaces. This is a grade two C signal in the posterior horn of medial meniscus, and this is a vertical tear in the anterior horn of medial meniscus. Anterior translation of tibia is the radiological analog of anterior drawer sign. A line is drawn along the most posterior part of the tibia and the most posterior part of the femoral. The distance between these two lines, if it is more than 5 mm, the anterior translation of tibia test is said to be positive. As in this case it is 9.5 mm. Pericruciate fat pad is one of the fat pads located in the intercondyline notch of tibia. It is intimately related to both the cruciate ligaments. A hyper intensity in the pericruciate fat pad is one of the secondary signs of ACL tear.  The posterior horn of lateral meniscus is not attached to the lateral-palletal ligament and is inherently more mobile than the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. The uncovered posterior horn of lateral meniscus sign is said to be positive if a tangent line drawn along the posterior margin of the tibia intersects the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus. In our study, we included 22 patients with a full-thickness tibial condyle. In our study, we included 22 patients with a full-thickness tibial condyle. If the tibia becomes concave in its superior surface, then the PCL is said to have buckled. In our study, we included 22 patients with a full-thickness tear in which bony contusions were associated with 72.7%. Signal in the medial meniscus is 45.5%. Capsular sign 40.9%, anterior translation of tibia 45.5%, lateral capsular sign 13.6% as MRI is not sensitive to depth sigon fracture. Uncovered posterior horn of lateral meniscus in 45.5%, pericruciate fat pad intensity in 90.9%, associated joint diffusion in 95.5%. Similar, we are the figures in a half-thickness tear. Bony contusions were associated in 72. As we can see in these pie charts, the variable amount of the presence of secondary signs in both as in full thickness, the partial thickness tear also shows the frequency of the associated signs in a variable degree. Hence, we came to the conclusion that secondary signs of ACL tear described in literature were found to have variable sensitivity on MR images. The presence of bony contusions, pericruciate fat pad hyper intensity and joint diffusion were found to have a high sensitivity for both full thickness and partial thickness ACL tears.  Therefore, these can be used to suspect an underlying ACL abnormality to facilitate the scanning in a pd fat sets a vital sequence, or as a follow-up scan to rule out any ACL injury in cases of adjacent edema or hammerage. Rest of the indirect signs had moderate sensitivity in both full thickness and partial thickness ACL tears. The presence of these secondary signs increases the confidence of the diagnosis. In almost all cases of ACL tear, these secondary signs are present in different combinations. Hence, together as a whole, they can significantly indicate an underlying ACL tear or even a sprain. However, rarely ACL tear can even present with no indirect signs. Therefore, these secondary signs should be used as an adjunct to direct signs of ACL tear and not alone in diagnosing ACL injury. These are my references. Thank you.