Tag Archives: credit unions

Stephen Knight

Opinion: Tackling debt problems in our communities

By Stephen Knight | Tue 11th February 2014 - 4:50 pm

payday londonMuch attention has recently been given to the growth of payday lending and with very good reason.

In the first quarter of 2009/10, across the UK, just 1% of Citizens Advice Bureau debt casework clients had at least one payday loan.  But by the same quarter of 2012/13 the figures show 10% of their debt casework had at least one payday loan.  Similarly, in November 2012 the debt charity StepChange reported that the proportion of their clients with payday loans had soared, from 3.7% in 2009, to 17% in 2012.

This growth in incredibly expensive debt is of course the legal end of the market.  We should never forget that on top of the growth of payday lending there has been a growth in illegal lending by loan sharks.  To give some indication of the growth of loan sharks it is worth noting that research from Liverpool John Moores University suggests that one in twenty low-income borrowers in London, that have been refused credit,  have then turned to a loan shark.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Mary Reid

LibLink: Jo Swinson on payday loans and meeting the Archbishop today

By Mary Reid | Wed 7th August 2013 - 4:40 pm

jo swinson by paul walterYesterday Jo Swinson spoke about payday loans on camera to The International Business Times. We cannot embed the video on Lib Dem Voice, but you can watch it here.

She said that she and Vince Cable would be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev Justin Welby, today to discuss  new  guidelines for credit unions. She stated:

My colleague and I, business secretary Vince Cable, are meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury on this issue. We are very keen that credit unions are expanded as they are important way of lending to a community that benefits local people.
…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Ian Hurdley

Opinion: Can the bank bailout boost credit unions?

By Ian Hurdley | Fri 2nd August 2013 - 2:50 pm

LloydsTSB is now sufficiently strong that the current share price exceeds the price paid by the Government at the time of the bail-out. These shares can now be sold off and the money returned to the taxpayer. The sums are such that there is the potential to transform access to affordable credit for the most vulnerable in society – those hit hardest by the cost to the public of the original bail-out.

Poorer and vulnerable people have continued to suffer disproportionately ever since the bail-out, as incomes from low paid work or benefit payments lag behind inflation. They have faced a …

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