Management of debtors help programme branded a 'complete failure'

THE Government's management of a programme to help people in debt was today branded a "complete failure" by MPs.

The public accounts committee said management of the government's over-indebtedness strategy was "seriously deficient", with no-one put in charge of it, while groups that were meant to oversee it failed to meet.

It said there had been no reporting on its progress since 2007, an the strategy had also not been evaluated to assess its effectiveness or results.

One in ten people is currently struggling to stay on top of their debts, and consumers collectively owe 1.5 trillion.

The government launched an over-indebtedness strategy in 2004 to offer more support to people struggling with debt, and reduce the number of people in difficulty.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee, said: "Unfortunately, the management of this strategy has been a complete failure. The government created a myriad of different interventions, 51 in total, but the arrangements for co-ordinating them have not worked and no-one has been in charge."