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Government’s Debt Support Under Scrutiny
Listed under: News
Published: Thursday, April 08, 2010
The Government's current strategy for helping people in debt has been branded a 'complete failure' by a group of MPs, with the lack of co-ordination between different projects and absence of adequate management, cited as just two of the reasons for its inefficiency.
The committee's report reveals that 11% of the public are currently struggling with debts, with the population's total personal deficit reaching almost £1.5 trillion this year alone.
Commenting on the lack of support available, the committee's chairman, Edward Leigh MP, spoke to the BBC News website, saying, “In 2004, the Government launched a strategy aimed at improving the support to, and reducing the number of, people who struggle with unmanageable debt. No one is in charge of the strategy; groups intended to oversee it have not met, and there has been no reporting on its progress since 2007.
He adds, “The strategy has not been evaluated to assess whether the policy goals have been achieved, and the department does not know how effective the interventions making it up have been.”
A spokesman from the Department for Business, responded to the attack, telling the website, “The National Audit Office reports that the Government has invested £600m to help people struggling with debt, and close to 300,000 individuals have been supported by our face-to-face debt advice project alone, which the committee has recognised is well-liked and provides good value for money.
Addressing the committee's recent criticism, he adds, “We are already in the process of reviewing our schemes, and will carefully consider the report's findings with other departments across Government."
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The committee's report reveals that 11% of the public are currently struggling with debts, with the population's total personal deficit reaching almost £1.5 trillion this year alone.
Commenting on the lack of support available, the committee's chairman, Edward Leigh MP, spoke to the BBC News website, saying, “In 2004, the Government launched a strategy aimed at improving the support to, and reducing the number of, people who struggle with unmanageable debt. No one is in charge of the strategy; groups intended to oversee it have not met, and there has been no reporting on its progress since 2007.
He adds, “The strategy has not been evaluated to assess whether the policy goals have been achieved, and the department does not know how effective the interventions making it up have been.”
A spokesman from the Department for Business, responded to the attack, telling the website, “The National Audit Office reports that the Government has invested £600m to help people struggling with debt, and close to 300,000 individuals have been supported by our face-to-face debt advice project alone, which the committee has recognised is well-liked and provides good value for money.
Addressing the committee's recent criticism, he adds, “We are already in the process of reviewing our schemes, and will carefully consider the report's findings with other departments across Government."
Do you think the Government is doing enough? Email your thoughts to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
