The future of face-to-face debt advice

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Debt advisers in England fear that government plans to change the way their service is funded will see big cuts in the amount of face-to-face advice available.

We hear from a woman who says in-person debt advice helped turn her life around, in a way that online of over the phone assistance could never match. And debt adviser Amy Taylor, who is chair of the Greater Manchester Money Advice Group, tells us about the impact the changes could have in face-to-face help for people in her region.

The parents and guardians of young people who lack mental capacity are still being denied access to their child trust funds, despite the government promising to look at the problem a year ago. In the wake of this week's House of Lords debate on the issue, we hear from campaigning parent Andrew Turner on changes he would like to see to the current expensive, difficult and lengthy legal process facing families who want to access the cash their children need.

And as three more energy suppliers go bust this week, Dermot Nolan, the former chief executive of the energy regulator Ofgem, tells us what he thinks is wrong with the system... and how it should change.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Anita Langary Editor: Emma Rippon

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:07.0	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.0	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:14.0	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for
0:21.7	Lucan. It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime. I'm Alex Fontunzelman. This is
0:27.8	the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:39.3	Thousands of young people are still locked out of their child trust fund accounts,
0:43.4	despite government assurances a year ago that it was working on the problem.
0:48.0	And as three more energy providers go bust this week,
0:51.2	I ask the former boss of the energy regulator, OffGEM,
0:58.4	have consumers been let down by the market he regulated for six years.
1:05.5	But first, debt advisors have told Moneybox they're worried that government plans to change the way their service is funded will see big cuts in the amount of face-to-face advice available to people in debt.
1:12.5	They reveal that contracts put out to tender by the government's money and pension service will result in more funding
1:17.3	for help over the phone or online than for local face-to-face services. Dan Whitworth has more on
1:23.6	this, Dan. Well, Paul, this issue is all about how best to help people like Jane. She
1:29.0	didn't want us to use her real name, but when she got into debt a few years ago, the lady
1:33.2	we're calling Jane began to really struggle with her finances. I got quite seriously into debt.
1:39.2	I think it must have been about three years ago. I had a really bad year with my self-employment and then my other part-time
1:47.6	job had kind of reduced. So I was living on 50 quid a week or it was like trying to live
1:54.3	on practically nothing and I couldn't pay the bills. I had to make a decision with bills or food
2:00.8	or whatever, you know.
	...

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