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21 November 2006
The Conservative party has called a summit, to be attended by banks, debt management agencies and consumer associations, to discuss the UK's personal debt situation.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, who is heading the summit, will unveil proposals to deal with the high levels of consumer debt that has risen past the £1.3 billion mark this year, along with record rates of insolvencies and repossessions.
Criticising government policies, he will attack chancellor and likely successor to Tony Blair as prime minister, Gordon Brown.
He is expected to say: "It's increasingly clear that Gordon Brown hasn't done enough. Insolvencies are up, bankruptcies are up, and the numbers of people struggling to cope are up."
Mr Osborne's blueprint includes compulsory financial education for 11 to18 year-olds, reflecting similar calls by the ifs School of Finance, a financial education charity, in recent months.
Other suggestions include a seven-day cooling off period for store cards, allowing new customers to go back on their decision to take one out, as well as obliging home credit companies to share credit information in the same way as banks.
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