More money found to fund debt advice

Recently the government announced that it would be cutting funding for debt advice services in the UK, sparking fears that the rising number of people hoping to get advice relating to their debt problems would be left high and dry. The situation elevated to the point where many debt advisors with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau were given redundancy notices to end at the end of March.

However, advisors have been given a much needed temporary reprieve after the Department for Business announced that it had found £27 million to plough into debt related services from a contingency fund. This has helped to alleviate fears over consumers being left without access to debt services, for which demand has increased sharply as a result of a range of factors such as the VAT increase, job losses, and the soaring cost of living.

Labour officials have said that they had raised concerns about the issue in parliament and that the believed that the move was a welcome u turn that would benefit many people as well as keeping many advisors in jobs. The CAB has also said that the move has come as a huge relief to the service and the advisors concerned.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “While the government has maintained funding for this programme, it provides only a small part of the revenue necessary to keep Citizens Advice afloat. I would like to take this opportunity to call on the other funding streams, such as from local authorities, to help provide whatever support they can to keep this excellent service going.”