While I am unable to attend Christians Against Poverty's, a UK-wide debt counselling charity, upcoming event on 7th March due to existing Ministerial engagements, I welcome the Government's ongoing commitment to reducing poverty and supporting those in need.
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I fully acknowledge that problem debt is often very difficult to escape and can have a devastating impact on existing issues including family problems and poor mental health. It is only right that people who fall into problem debt are helped to find a sustainable, long-lasting plan to solve their debt problems.
To help people in problem debt, the Government continues to maintain 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. You can find out more here:
Get free debt advice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
I welcome the action being taken to protect those who find themselves in this situation through the Breathing Space scheme. This scheme has two parts; a breathing space period and a statutory debt repayment plan. Together, these two aspects of the scheme protect people in debt from creditor action, provide people with professional advice on their debt problems, and help them pay off their debts in a sustainable way.
The Breathing Space scheme provides people in debt with a 60-day period in which interest and charges on their debts are frozen and enforcement action from creditors is paused. During this time, people in debt will have to seek professional debt advice to find a sustainable solution, encouraging them to seek advice earlier and giving them the headspace to identify the right debt solution for them. The statutory debt repayment plan is a new debt solution that extends the Breathing Space protections to people in debt who commit to fully repaying their debts in a manageable timeline. You can read about the scheme here:
Options for dealing with your debts: Breathing Space (Debt Respite Scheme) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
