More partnerships on financial inclusion

Citizens Advice today helped launch ‘Now let’s talk money’ - the Government’s campaign to help people on low incomes become more financially secure - and encouraged more partnership working to achieve financial inclusion.

The campaign aims to support organisations like Citizens Advice who work with financially excluded people. The campaign was launched by DWP minister James Plaskitt.

Teresa Perchard, Director of Policy for Citizens Advice and a member of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce, addressed representatives from banks, building societies, local authorities, housing associations and the voluntary sector at the event and encouraged them to get more involved;

“This is a great opportunity to help thousands of people keep out of debt and manage their money. We see the effects of financial exclusion every day - a simple lack of a bank account can lead to higher charges for access to cash and can act as a barrier to employment. Our clients have average debts of £13,000 whilst the income of most clients is half the national income.

We all share common interests, and we have the potential to act o delivering solutions. There is already a huge amount of partnership working at local level there is potential for more. We want to bring together the complimentary skills of the finance, voluntary and local government sectors to work more closely and invest resources into making a real difference.”

The Citizens Advice service is already the largest provider of free money advice in the UK through its network of 462 bureaux. The service dealt with more than 5.5 million problems in the last financial year, 1 .4 million of which related to debt. The first wave of debt advisers funded through the Government’s Financial Inclusion Fund are in post and have already helped more than 7,000 people. In total more than 250 new debt advisers will be recruited and will enable more people to get advice more quickly.

Citizens Advice has been promoting financial capability education through bureaux since 2002. Its Financial Skills for Life programme, with Prudential plc as key partner, has been central to its success. Nearly 100 bureaux are providing some form of financial capability work, helping people to budget, save and borrow within their means. Current Financial Capability programmes have already been proven to deliver real results and Citizens Advice aims to provide financial capability in all 440 bureaux by 2010.

Teresa Perchard continued; “People need the confidence and ability to budget, borrow and save effectively. Providing advice and teaching financial skills really does work as our bureaux have seen people improve their money management skills and confidence significantly.”

A number of Citizens Advice bureaux are also involved in a project specifically designed to support lone parents, funded by Barclaycard. Parents learn skills to manage their money effectively, save and avoid getting into debt in the future. Staff have seen a real improvement in the ability of clients to manage their finances.

The Citizens Advice service is also building on the initial success of bureaux working with Independent Financial Advisers to give generic financial advice to clients. It has piloted work by eight bureaux and Independent Financial Advisers to improve access to financial advice for people on low and middle incomes. Its success has encouraged Citizens Advice to expand the project further and with support from Barclays and IFAs, it is intended to involve 25 bureaux over the next two years.