Public to help improve banking sector

Members of the public will for the first time get the chance to give their views on how they would change Britain's banking sector. Friday sees the first of five public events being held around the UK by the Independent Banking commission - which was set up to investigate the banking industry and find ways to improve it.

Part of its remit is to assess whether there is enough competition among banks.

Howard Kew, chief executive of Financial Leeds, is one of the panellists for the Independent Commission. He told the BBC: ''People will recognise the need to have banks as part of the solution going forward.''