§ Mr. McCuskerasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is yet in a position to make a statement on public debt as promised in his reply given in the Official Report, 24th November 1977, column 1744.
§ Mr. ConcannonThe Government are concerned at the high level of public debt in Northern Ireland, particularly for housing, electricity and gas. The current total is £23 million and the figure is still rising. Fuel debt is especially worrying, since it is continuing to increase not only in monetary terms but as a proportion of collectable revenue. It now amounts, for instance, to 30 per cent. of the annual revenue due to the Belfast gas undertaking. Debt on this scale, which is wholly disproportionate to the position in Great Britain, is a serious burden on the undertakings concerned, which, if unchecked must eventually be reflected in their charges to their customers. It could become habitual, and ultimately develop into a serious social problem. Moreover it would be unfair to those who are paying their way that persistent defaulters should be allowed to continue to with hold payment.
The Government are determined that debt recovery will be effectively pursued and the following measures have been decided upon.
Public creditor bodies will be encouraged to develop and extend measures 205W which will enable debtors to pay off their debt by voluntary agreement. This remains the Government's primary objective. There is already a wide range of such schemes, including savings stamps, budget accounts and coin collecting devices.
Creditor bodies will also be encouraged to allocate more staff to debt recovery work.
Proposals for new legislation have been published to increase the effectiveness of the Enforcement of Judgments Office through which the public creditor bodies can seek judicial orders to enforce payments in suitable cases.
For those cases which cannot be effectively dealt with in these ways it has been decided to extend to public sector gas and electricity creditor bodies the right to apply to the Department of Health and Social Services for the allocation of part of the social security benefits of debtors. This is already done for rent and rates debt. An order will be introduced as soon as possible to provide for the same collection charge—at present 50p per week—to be made for fuel debt as is presently made for rent and rates debt. The intention is that the collection 206W charge should be applicable from the start of the extension of benefit allocation to fuel debts.
Extension of benefit allocation is a stern measure, and I regret the necessity for it at a time when Northern Ireland is steadily moving towards normality in so many spheres of life. Allocation of benefits is only used in the last resort against those who do not respond to the other measures I have outlined. Debtors can avoid the sanction of benefit allocation by entering into and keeping voluntary arrangements for payment of their debt, and I hope the vast majority will do so. Where the sanction has to be applied, this will be done in ways which will not impose undue hardship on families in the poorest circumstances, and in the first instance in respect of only one debt at a time.
The Government recognise that there are links between the problems of public indebtedness and the prevalence of poverty, especially among families whose breadwinners suffer from long-term unemployment, and intend to promote research into the problems of low-income families, which should throw light on these links and provide useful information for future reviews of policy.