§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many credit unions have been established in each of the past 20 years; what is the approximate size of membership of each of these credit unions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThe number of credit unions registered since the coming into operation of the Credit Unions Act 1979, which provided the first statutory framework for credit unions in Great Britain, has been:
Number 1979 2 1980 55 1981 16 1982 8 1983 2 1984 3 1985 2 1986 13 1987 16 1988 45 11989 44 1 To 7 November. According to the most recent annual returns received by the registrar of friendly societies from each credit union registered in Great Britain, the average membership of all 721W credit unions is 141. However, there is considerable variation in membership levels, as the following table shows:
Number of members Number of credit unions Less than 100 109 100 to 250 44 250 to 500 23 500 to 1,000 8 More than 1,000 6