Policy and Government

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has responded to the FCA’s consultation, Our future approach to consumers. We were pleased to see the development of plans from the FCA’s mission, released last April, and the growing emphasis on protecting vulnerable consumers. The expectation for firms to take reasonable steps in identifying vulnerability was welcomed, but we had concerns about the FCA's new definition of vulnerability. The new definition states that firms should be able to readily identify vulnerability, when in reality vulnerability is not easily identifiable. To read more, click below.

Ofgem is due to release a new safeguard tariff, extending financial protection to a million more vulnerable consumers who are currently on Standard Variable Tariffs. We have responded to this initial consultation, looking at the scope and methodology of the new price cap. It will cover consumers who are disengaged and vulnerable, but not those on a prepayment meter as there is already a price cap covering them. Take a look at our response below.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) was pleased to feed into the Banking Standards Board's (BSB) consultation, ‘What do good banking outcomes look like to consumers?' The consultation provided real-life examples of what consumers both want and need, and CAP was able to provide additional suggestions from experience of clients in financial difficulty. CAP hopes that this input will inform the BSB as they write up their guidance.

CAP has responded to HM Treasury's consultation on a statutory breathing space and debt management plan. This consultation outlined the current plans, due to be brought into legislation in the coming months. CAP was happy to see breathing space make headway in Government, but is concerned that unless breathing space also covers the public sector, it will be a step back in progress. To read our full response please click below.

During the ongoing review of debt advice funding, there is no better time to argue the benefits of Fair Share. Fair Share is a voluntary agreement between creditors and debt advisers to pay back a fixed percentage of the amount received by the creditor in debt repayments. CAP has released a briefing, The case for Fair Share, which lays out the many advantages of this funding model. As demand for debt advice grows, so will demand for funding and this paper argues the case that Fair Share should be retained on its own merits - why abolish a mechanism that works well for its intended place in the sector?