MP fights in Parliament for debt advice at local Citizens Advice Bureau
Streatham Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is set to lose the services of a personal finance and debt advice caseworker following the government’s decision to axe the Financial Inclusion Fund. Local MP Chuka Umunna has spoken in a debate on debt advice to highlight the cut facing the local centre and the impact it will have.
Streatham CAB currently benefits from a debt advice and personal finance caseworker funded through the Financial Inclusion Fund who visits regularly to help local people who need advice in these areas. Because of the government’s decision to scrap the Financial Inclusion Fund, the centre will lose the services of the caseworker entirely.
This will mean that unless individuals qualify for legal aid, they will not be able to receive assistance with debt and personal finance issues. The caseworker has assisted more than 400 debt advice queries.
Chuka Umunna has also made a speech in a debate on consumer credit, and voted to protect the most vulnerable consumers by supporting the introduction of caps on the extraordinary amounts that payday and doorstop lenders can charge for credit.
In the Streatham constituency there exist high street lenders charging rates as high as 400% APR despite the Bank of England base rate having remained at just 0.5% since March 2009. Mr Umunna, who has championed the campaign to bring an end to legal loan sharking from the outset, in his speech during the House of Commons debate on the issue recently drew attention to high street banks’ poor provision of credit to low income individuals and the substandard quality of financial advice given to customers.
Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “This represents a huge loss to our local Citizens Advice Bureau which will mean that many people seeking help will not have anywhere else to go.
“Our local Citizens Advice Bureau does a great job in providing advice and assistance but the government’s decision will limit the help they are able to offer. I am deeply concerned at the impact of this loss on those with debt and financial problems locally.”
