Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of household debt in England.

The Government regularly monitors personal debt levels by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government also engages regularly with a range of stakeholders in the debt advice sector on their research and findings.

The FCA conducts a biennial Financial Lives Survey which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of the UK population. The latest findings from the survey were published in February 2021, which also analysed the impact of the pandemic on people’s finances. The results showed that between March and October 2020, the number of people with low financial resilience increased by 3.5 million, from 10.7 million to 14.2 million.

MaPS monitors financial difficulty through their research, in particular the Debt Need Survey. MaPS will publish the results of their 2021 Debt Need Survey early this calendar year, which will include a regional breakdown of their new Need for Debt Advice measure.