Debts

(asked on 11th July 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of unsecured personal debt on the Government's levelling up agenda.


Answered by
Lia Nici Portrait
Lia Nici
This question was answered on 14th July 2022

The heart of the Government's Levelling Up White paper is focused on building successful and strong places, which are more economically resilient by nature and able to respond to changing economic trends. Alongside this long-term plan, the Government is also delivering national measures to continue to help people in problem debt. Key initiatives include:

  • Maintaining record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), bringing the budget for free debt advice in England to over £90 million in 2022-23.
  • Launching the Breathing Space scheme in England and Wales last year. The scheme gives eligible people in problem debt who receive professional debt advice access to a 60-day period in which enforcement action is paused and most fees, charges and interest are frozen.
  • Developing the Statutory Debt Repayment Plan (SDRP), a statutory agreement that will enable a person in problem debt to combine their debts into a single repayment plan, with payments made over a manageable time period, while receiving legal protections from creditor action for the duration of their plan.
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