CAB Visit Highlights Debt As Major Local Concern

1.11.23pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 7th Aug 2006

West Worcestershire's Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Richard Burt, has highlighted debt and financial exclusion as major concerns for the Malvern Hills district following a recent visit to the Citizens Advice Bureau in Grange Road, Malvern.

Mr Burt talked to volunteers and CAB staff about their work and heard that the equivalent of four full time staff and sixty volunteers dealt with around 20,000 enquiries across the district each year.

Richard Burt said: "I have nothing but praise for the work undertaken by staff and volunteers at CAB in Malvern, Upton and Tenbury Wells. It is vital for so many who find themselves at the end of their tether, or just don't know where to turn for the right help or advice.

"More and more families are running up record levels of debt and one household in twelve has no bank account of any kind.

"Debt is one of the biggest problems that CAB encounters within the Malvern Hills district, and this is made worse by the current fiasco over family and working tax credits, of which up to one third have been wrongly calculated by Inland Revenue, resulting in money being withheld or clawed back from families through no fault of their own.

"Government insistence on scrapping the Post Office Card also threatens the future viability of rural post offices and means many would have no means of paying their bills and conducting normal financial transactions.

"The Post Office Card has proved a lifeline for many and I fully support the CAB concerns over plans to scrap it. Otherwise money spent wisely by government on promoting financial inclusion in the district will be partly negated as a result of the government's own actions. This is not a great example of joined up working."

CAB's Deputy Manager, Richard West said: "Citizens Advice is concerned about the plans to discontinue the card account in 2010.

"We see clients in rural areas who experience problems in gaining access to basic banking facilities. The contraction of the banking network in rural areas means that nationwide only 4% of villages have a bank branch. In contrast 60% of villages have a post office and the rural network serves approx 12 million customer visits a week. The card account provides a lifeline for clients who would otherwise be excluded from banking facilities.

"In addition we would like to see measures to promote access to basic bank accounts including making them easier to open and more suitable for people on benefits or low incomes".