A number of constituents have been in touch about StepChange and The Children’s Society’s campaign to create a statutory breathing space scheme for families in debt. The proposed scheme would give people a period without interest, charges or debt collection activity while they seek advice and try to improve their financial situation.

In 2015 the Government accepted the need to conduct an in-depth review of this by the end of the year. Disappointingly, that review is still ongoing.

Personal debt can cause very serious problems. I am concerned that many young people are facing a lifetime of debt and uncertainty whilst the Government is not going far enough to protect families from falling into unmanageable debt.

Total household debt rose to £1,834 billion at the end of September 2016. While prices are rising, earnings are still below where they were before the financial crash and many people are struggling to make ends meet.

I hope that the Government will listen closely to the very serious concerns raised by this campaign.