Liz: So Hi, I’m Liz Camp. I head up the CAP Debt Centre here in Exeter, and I’m just thinking today about Jamie. He’s a young man I visited who was working part time when we went in to do the budget and everything. And he was doing very irregular work on a zero hour contract.
And it was so frustrating because some weeks he didn’t have the money to pay his rent, and his landlord, who was actually a really good landlord, just couldn’t, wouldn’t put up with that.
So in the end, because of this insecure working, he decided to stop working and just live on a low level of benefit. But it would be regular and his housing would be paid for him.
And I just think it’s such a shame he couldn’t be better supported to stay in work, because now Jamie is in his room all day. He’s losing confidence. He’s probably gonna find it incredibly hard to get back into work.
And it’s not a case of just upping his Universal Credit, but it’s enabling Jamie to earn his own money. So better security, better help. Better support for people going into work please.
Tim: Hi, I’m Tim. I’m a Debt Centre Manager in the South West and we’re seeing increasing numbers of clients really struggling to pay their bills, and also to to pay into their Debt Management Plans to pay off their debts. So we really encourage really just more support for, in terms of social security and also for, food banks and and regular support during that time of them actually paying off their debts, or going through insolvency.
Tony: Hello. My name’s Tony and I’m a Debt Centre Manager, in the South East of England at Christians Against Poverty. For the next Government. I’d really like them to be concentrated on the fact that that on people on low incomes and on benefits do not have the money to keep up with just the basic cost of living.
I’d like them to take advice from their own Work and Pensions Select Committee because this is something that they’ve already reported on for the present Government. We want people to have enough dignity to make their own way in society and not be burdened with unmanageable debt.
We know also that the local governments and government debt is what really gets people into bad situations – we can do better.
