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A NEW strategy to prevent vulnerable people falling into unmanageable debt was launched today by the Government.
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A national strategy to improve financial literacy will be a key element of the plan, which will also include a free telephone helpline offering financial advice.
The strategy also includes proposals to improve insolvency and court proceedings and make it easier for vulnerable people to access affordable credit, rather than having to rely on loan sharks.
Consumer affairs minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: 'For the vast majority of people, debt and credit is not a problem. However, there is a minority of people for whom over-indebtedness can be a very real problem, fuelling poverty as well as financial and social exclusion. It is these people this strategy is intended to help.'
Citizens Advice, which handles more than a million new debt cases a year, said: 'Of particular importance to delivery of this strategy is the work that the Department of Trade and Industry are doing to reform outdated consumer credit laws so that consumers can get a fairer deal and redress from extortionate credit in future.'
The the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), which has seen calls to its helplines rise by more than a third to 90,000, in the first six months of 2004, said: 'Given limited resources it is important that the Government's support and help should be focused on low-income groups while the voluntary and private sectors should be left to look after the problems of other borrowers.'
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