Parliament has initiated a formal inquiry in response to fears that levels of personal debt are spiralling out of control.
The Treasury Select Committee will be poring over details relating to the UK’s household finances in order to identify potential problems.
Their investigations will cover problem debt, banks’ handling of low income families and whether Britons are saving adequate sums of money.
The decision by MPs to subject these issues to further scrutiny comes amid mounting fears about borrowing levels and the nation’s mounting household debt – which now stands at £200billion.
The fact that this is the same level which was recorded prior to the financial crash a decade ago has led to deepening concern at both the Bank of England and Westminster.
Nicky Morgan, the former cabinet minister who now chairs the committee, said: “Debt is a huge emotional burden for people. Unstable personal finances often emerge as problems raised by constituents, so we hope to take evidence for this inquiry from around the country.
“We will examine what policies could support households in achieving appropriate levels of saving, and the sustainability of the UK’s household debt and consumer credit.”
The scale of the problem was laid bare by recent analysis which suggested that there are now in excess of eight million Britons with problem debts.
In addition, the Government’s own figures have confirmed that applications for individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) had climbed to the highest level since the system was introduced during Margaret Thatcher’s time in office 30 years ago.
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