Norfolk Council leaders to give verdict on help for debt-laden Norfolk families

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 12th Jun 2008

Lib Dems in Norfolk are asking whether more help should be offered to local debt advice services

Norfolk council chiefs are set to consider next week whether or not to offer additional help to struggling families locally. Following investigations by local Liberal Democrats that revealed rapidly escalating demand for debt advice services in Norfolk and waiting times of up to five weeks for private appointments with free, independent debt advisers, Cabinet members at Norfolk County Council are to give consideration to reviewing the provision of free debt services locally at a meeting on Monday.

Responding to increasing national unease about levels of individual personal debt and high repossession rates, Paul Morse, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group at County Hall, undertook last month to find out what the picture in Norfolk is. His investigations revealed that the average resident seeking personal debt advice in Norfolk is now a staggering £31,000 in debt and that only an estimated 5% of those in debt in Norfolk are currently accessing these services, meaning that the majority are likely to be seeking help from loan sharks.

Cllr Morse's concerns about the situation prompted him to submit a formal motion to Norfolk County Council calling for local and national reviews of the adequacy of free and impartial debt service provision and its funding sources.

But there are fears that a new report prepared to assist the Cabinet in deciding how to respond to the Liberal Democrat motion may not lead to any new activity to address the issue of the overstretched debt advice services in Norfolk since it does not identify any options for further action, as previous reports of this nature have done.

Cllr Jacky Howe, who is co-signatory of the Liberal Democrat motion says:

"I sincerely hope that the silence of this paper on the way forward doesn't mean that the Cabinet will be deciding not to take this crucial issue any further. While the report provides a useful summary of work that is already going on in this field, such as the Government's plans to start a new national money guidance service and the work of Norfolk's Consumer Support Network, it is still not clear to me from this paper that the problems we have identified are being addressed adequately.

"The Government has stated explicitly that the Thoreson review will not help those who are already in debt crisis and, while the current support the Council gives to local advice services is important and valued, local evidence still points to the fact that there are a significant number of Norfolk residents out there who are not accessing the help that they need, particularly when it comes to in-depth assistance through personal casework.

"The Liberal Democrats are seeking assurance that the Council knows what the current demand for and supply of free debt advice services in Norfolk is and that it is working with its partners to meet any gaps. It may be that work is already underway to achieve this but I think the Cabinet should be demanding more concrete evidence before it can be satisfied that it is doing enough."