§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many debt inquiries have been reported by the Citizens Advice Bureau in(a) the UK, (b) Tyne and Wear, (c) South Tyneside and (d) the Jarrow constituency in each year since 1997. [119120]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe coordinating body for Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABx), Citizens Advice, included a table in their May 2003 report on debt, "In Too Deep". This table contains figures for the number of new debt inquiries to CABx in the UK from 1997 to 2002, as follows:
326W
Number 1997–98 862,019 1998–99 952,734 1999–2000 1,031,377 2000–01 1,038,066 2001–02 1,066,509 The full table, including a breakdown of type of debt inquiries, can be found on the Citizens Advice's website at: http://www.citizerisadvice.org.uk
Citizens Advice does not, however, have statistics available on a regional or constituency basis.
§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government have to help tackle debt-related issues reported by the Citizens Advice Bureau. [119122]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Government are currently considering the issues raised in the report, "In Too Deep", and have met Citizens Advice to discuss some of them.
A number of the concerns raised by Citizens Advice are already being addressed by the review of Government policy on over-indebtedness. The review aims to investigate the demand for money advice and financial literacy programmes, clarify the roles and responsibilities of Government Departments, and make recommendations on future Government policy on reducing over-indebtedness. It will also focus in particular on achieving effective co-ordination of policy across Government.