StepChange News and Views: Debt Awareness Week edition

Welcome to the March edition of StepChange News and Views, our monthly newsletter where you can keep up to date with everything happening at StepChange Debt Charity.?

In this newsletter:?

• We’ve appointed a new Chair.?
• One week until Debt Awareness Week - Get involved.?
• Spring budget – We look at three key changes.?
• We respond to the Money and Pensions Service’s recent findings.?
• Look at our latest statistics and media coverage.?
• Ofgem price cap news – Read our response.?

We’ve appointed a new Chair for our Board of Trustees?

We are pleased to announce that Lesley Titcomb CBE has been appointed as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees, as John Griffith-Jones steps down. Lesley has been a member of the StepChange board since 2019, where she has served as Board Champion for Consumer Duty and as a member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee. Lesley brings with her a wealth of experience, having previously held the position of Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator and Chief Operating Officer of the FCA.?

Read more?

Debt Awareness Week – Less than one week to go!?

Our #DebtAwarenessWeek campaign starts March 18, and we need your help to make this year the biggest ever. Our theme this year is ‘the barriers to debt advice’ and throughout the week we will be addressing a different barrier each day, sharing hints and tips to overcome these.?

The barriers we will be focussing on are:?

• Lack of understanding of what debt advice is?
• Mental health?
• Worry that future finances or credit rating will be affected?
• Feeling time poor?
• Shame and stigma?

Debt Awareness Week could not be timelier. In December 2023, our YouGov polling found that around 22 million people expect their finances to get worse over the next twelve months.??

We’ll be raising awareness across our social media channels all week, and you can help us reach more people by liking, commenting, and sharing our activity. You can also get involved with #DebtAwarenessWeek by downloading our partner toolkit. This contains everything you need to support our campaign with social media copy, assets and banners, email templates, and digital posters. To get involved, download your toolkit now.?

Spring Budget – Our key takeaways.?

• Debt Relief Order (DRO) changes: A DRO is a debt solution designed to write off debts for individuals under certain criteria. The announced changes temporarily remove the ￡90 application fee, increase the debt threshold from ￡30,000 to ￡50,000 and increase vehicle asset value from ￡2000 to ￡4000. These changes will enable a broader range of clients access a DRO, particularly those who may struggle to meet the higher bankruptcy fee of ￡680.?
• Household support fund extended for 6 months: We were encouraged to see this extension announced for those most in need but we would like it to become permanent. Given the ongoing cost of living crisis, concerns remain around how things are likely to improve overall for the most financially vulnerable in this very short time frame.??
• Universal Credit Advance loan repayment extension – Extending the time frame to repay these loans to 24 months will help those on the lowest incomes keep more of their money for essentials. Despite this change, we remain concerned at the current high level of deductions possible from other sources, like council tax and utility direct schemes.?

Read our full press release here: StepChange Responds to Spring Budget??

Our response: Money and Pensions Service findings show that more than a third (39%) of the UK population either need debt advice now or will need it soon.?

We are urging a national effort to raise awareness of free, impartial, and charitable debt advice. As the UK's leading charity providing debt advice, we have seen a year-on-year increase in clients seeking help. MaPS data supports our findings that young people, low earners, and those in temporary jobs are more likely to require assistance. Our polling in January revealed that only 4% of UK adults sought help from organizations such as StepChange or Citizens Advice despite half of them being concerned about their financial situation.?

Commenting on MaPS findings, StepChange Chief Client Officer Richard Lane said:?

“MaPS is right to draw attention to the fact that taking debt advice can be truly life changing. Our clients routinely tell us this, and often say they just wish they had sought help sooner. We measure wellbeing as well as financial outcomes and find that after debt advice both typically show considerable improvement. But the barriers to taking advice are very real and very deep-rooted, and part of our collective goal must be to tear them down.”?

Sharing our insight with the sector?

Our research and insights featured in 167 pieces of media coverage throughout February.?

One of our biggest pieces of coverage came in our response to UK Finance’s latest mortgage arrears and possessions statistics, which was picked up by the Independent, MEN, Mirror, and The Times, to name a few. We also worked with the Sun and the Scottish Sun on a piece providing consumer advice to readers regarding enforcement action.?

Ofgem price cap news?

The latest price cap announcement from Ofgem was welcome news, but for those struggling with their finances and with ongoing energy arrears the situation is unlikely to improve without further support from the government. Richard Lane, Chief Client Officer at StepChange Debt Charity, said:?

“While it’s positive to hear that energy bills will fall from April, it’s important to bear in mind that the price cap will still be more than 60% higher than before the?cost of living crisis. We can also see the lasting impact that high energy prices have had on our clients. Over the course of last year, the average amount of energy arrears per StepChange client deepened by 27% from an already staggering ￡1,608 in January to ￡2,050 in December 2023.”??

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