I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid), on 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 160W, which includes information on the Government’s approach to promoting debt sustainability among low-income countries.

The impact assessment for the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 indicates direct benefits to heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) of between zero and £26 million a year. The Government’s decision to make the Act permanent on 25 May 2011 was taken following consultation with relevant stakeholders; evidence from that exercise suggested that the Act had some benefit on HIPCs and no evidence was found of unintended or adverse effects.

The UK continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to promote responsible lending and borrowing practices, including our ongoing support for the IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework and OECD lending principles covering official export credits. The UK also supports the World Bank’s debt reduction facility, which enables countries to buy back their commercial debt at a deep discount with donor backing, and the African Legal Support Facility, which provides legal advice to countries facing litigation.

The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Consumers will be better protected under the new regime. The FCA will:

police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

proactively identify risks to consumers;

focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

operate a flexible and responsive regime;

use its wide enforcement toolkit; and

ensure consumers have access to redress.

The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process–debt management firms will be among the first to require authorisation.

The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money—the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided, following discussions with a range of stakeholders, that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the protocol.

The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Consumers will be better protected under the new regime. The FCA will:

police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

proactively identify risks to consumers;

focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

operate a flexible and responsive regime;

use its wide enforcement toolkit; and

ensure consumers have access to redress.

The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process–debt management firms will be among the first to require authorisation.

The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money—the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided, following discussions with a range of stakeholders, that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the protocol.

The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Consumers will be better protected under the new regime. The FCA will:

police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

proactively identify risks to consumers;

focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

operate a flexible and responsive regime;

use its wide enforcement toolkit; and

ensure consumers have access to redress.

The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process–debt management firms will be among the first to require authorisation.

The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money—the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided, following discussions with a range of stakeholders, that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the protocol.

The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Consumers will be better protected under the new regime. The FCA will:

police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

proactively identify risks to consumers;

focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

operate a flexible and responsive regime;

use its wide enforcement toolkit; and

ensure consumers have access to redress.

The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process–debt management firms will be among the first to require authorisation.

The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money—the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided, following discussions with a range of stakeholders, that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the protocol.

The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

The Supplementary Estimate adjustment for the student loan debt sale relates to the Government subsidising the sale of student loans in 1998 and 1999. The adjustment reflects changes to the value of the Government liability following annual debt sale subsidy payments, including adjustments for cancelled loans.

The subsidy will continue until all the loans are extinguished which is expected to be no earlier than 2028, which is the 30 year duration of the first debt sale agreement.

Further details of the liability are available in the BIS Annual Report and Accounts.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the aggregate household debt in the UK was in the most recent quarter for which figures are available. (196847)

The Office for National Statistics publishes details of the combined financial liabilities of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). NPISH is a relatively small contributor to the sector. The most recent analyses can be found in table A64 of the United Kingdom Economic Accounts (UKEA) 2013 Q4, published on 28 March 2014. The UKEA is available on the National Statistics web site at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q4-2013/index.html

This shows that, in households and NPISH, the combined “Total financial liabilities” increased in 2013 Q4 to a figure of £1,555.0 billion. In the same period in 2012 the figure was £1,544.3 billion.

The Government legislated in the Banking Reform Act 2013 to require the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce a cap on the cost of high-cost short-term credit, including payday loans, in order to protect consumers from excessive costs. In designing the cap, the FCA will take into account the interest rate and other fees and charges which may be incurred in relation to a high-cost loan.

As part of the FCA’s powers to cap the cost of credit in the Financial Services Act 2012, the Government gave the FCA specific powers to prevent a lender enforcing a credit agreement and recovering the debt, if the agreement contravenes its rules on the cost of credit. It can also require that any money or property transferred under the credit agreement must be returned.

The FCA is currently conducting analysis to inform the design of the cap; it has committed to publishing its proposed rules which implement the cap in July. The FCA plans to publish final rules in the autumn and all lenders must be compliant with the cap by 2 January 2015. The Government supports the FCA’s proposed timetable for implementing the cap: it allows the FCA appropriate time to conduct analysis, consult on its proposals and ensure that firms are fully compliant by January. It also allows the FCA to draw on the insight of the Competition and Markets Authority’s study into payday lenders in designing the cap.

Details of the attendees and issues discussed by the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Sudan's external debt are released by the IMF following each meeting. The UK attends as a member of the Paris Club delegation.

Information from the last TWG meeting, held on 12 October 2013, can be found on the IMF website at:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2013/pr13404.htm

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014:

On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what estimate he has made of the value of unsecured debt owed by individuals in each income decile in each year since 2010 (193861).

The Office for National Statistics does collect information on unsecured debt owed by households and individuals from the Wealth and Assets Survey; a longitudinal study of the economic circumstances of households in Great Britain. However, currently only data pertaining to the first two waves of the survey (2006/08 and 2008/10) are available. The main findings from the survey for the period 2010/12 will be published in May 2014. Furthermore, 2010/12 was the first period that full income data were collected on the survey. These data require further quality assurance and will not be available until June/July 2014. It is not possible to look at unsecured debt by income decile for the previous two waves which have been published.