amendment of the law

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Stella Creasy

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. As he knows, Labour’s compulsory jobs guarantee would benefit people exactly like the young people he met in Corby. It would guarantee a job for every young person who has been out of work for a year, giving them real hope and opportunity and utilising their skills and talents.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

If things are going as swimmingly as the Government wish us to believe, is my hon. Friend as concerned as I am about the numbers of people getting into personal debt trying to make ends meet, and about all the evidence that shows that personal debt will rise, not fall, over the years ahead? Does she think that is a sign of an economy recovering, or of people scraping to make ends meet under this Government?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend speaks knowledgably not only of what she sees in her constituency of Walthamstow, but of what she hears when talking to others about the impact of payday lenders and debt on many of our communities.

Living Standards

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Stella Creasy

Wednesday 4th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

We have said of the private rented sector that we would require a new national register of landlords.

This Government are presiding over the lowest level of house building since the 1920s. We have said that we would build new affordable homes, and the IMF has said that the Government should bring forward investment in infrastructure. Perhaps we should listen to the IMF.

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor now claim that their economic plan has worked after all, but two quarters of positive growth do not begin to repair the damage from three years of flatlining. Three wasted years have left permanent damage as businesses have lost vital investment opportunities, and almost 1 million young people are out of work. That is why families are suffering; that is why deficit reduction is so far off track. Yet we have a complacent Government. They have no idea of what they have put families through, no idea of the damage they are still doing, and no plan to put things right. Three years in government and still no British investment bank; three years in government and banking reform is being watered down; three years in government and one in five apprentices say they have received no training; three years in government and the number of 16 to 18-year-old apprentices is down by 13% this year; three years in government and major infrastructure projects are stalled; three years in government and life is getting tougher for ordinary families.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful case about the warped priorities of this Government and the consequences and costs for households. It is little wonder that 80% of payday loans are for the basic costs she is talking about—housing, travel, rent and food. Is it not another example of this Government’s warped priorities that in three years of clear warnings they have done nothing about the legal loan sharks in our society, and is that not why we would make a difference in government?

[Rachel Reeves]

She has done fantastic campaigning work on that issue. Labour has said that we would cap the cost of credit, as she has called for.

A one nation Labour Government would be taking action now to secure the recovery and to build a more balanced economy that boosts the living standards not just for the few at the top but for the many. We would act on the recommendations of the IMF to support and secure the recovery by bringing forward £10 billion of infrastructure investment. We would build 400,000 affordable homes, creating more than half a million jobs and making our economy stronger for the long term. We would support house building, encourage private sector investment, and create apprenticeships. A one nation Labour Government would be confronting the scandal of youth and long-term unemployment by introducing a compulsory jobs guarantee.

Consumer Credit Regulation

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Stella Creasy

Tuesday 9th November 2010 Westminster Hall

[Stella Creasy]

As ever, my hon. Friend makes an incredibly practical and important point on these issues, which I shall come back to at the end of my comments when I consider the third component of the action that we can take to protect the poorest consumers in Britain.

I shall quickly return to my point about access to affordable credit. We must learn lessons and consider how to increase affordable credit access through the existing UK market. We know that that can be done, because people are already doing it. Credit unions and social enterprises such as Fair Finance are demonstrating that it is possible to lend at reasonable rates, to provide money advice services, and to help people to make credit work for them.

[Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate and I know that many of my constituents will be watching it closely. Does she agree that credit unions—including the Leeds City credit union, which has been operating for more than 20 years in my city, and the Bramley credit union—offer an excellent alternative to loan sharks? The Government could do more to support credit unions to grow, for example by enabling them to operate at all post offices and at local council facilities such as benefit offices and local libraries.

[Stella Creasy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and makes exactly the point I wanted to mention about how important it is to support and promote credit unions. There is certainly scope for British credit unions to grow, and we are behind other nations in that respect. In Ireland, 50% of the population are members of a credit union. In America and Canada, the figure is around 40%. In Australia and New Zealand it is around 25%, but it is closer to 2% in the UK. Despite that, at least 86% of people are eligible to join a credit union in England, Scotland and Wales on the basis of where they live and the working areas that are served by credit unions. That is not just in Bramley—my excellent Waltham Forest community credit union has more than 4,000 customers.

There is clearly interest in accessing credit through such bodies. Membership of credit unions in Britain increased by 35% between March 2008 and March 2010. The challenge we face is how to scale up credit unions extremely quickly, given the CSR and the level of debt that we are facing. The question of the future of the post office network provides therefore both an opportunity and a threat to some of the excellent work that can be done in this field, which several hon. Members have mentioned.

The previous Government proposed—this is being promoted by the Association of British Credit Unions—connecting up the credit union movement and post offices, which would allow the integration of both services. A one-off investment would be needed to provide the common back-office platform that would allow the technical integration of the two services. In turn, that would allow post offices to offer a wider range of services, including those vital instant small-scale loans, as well as access to a Post Office card account. Staff at post offices could carry out transactions in real time, checking account details and giving instant pre-approved loans that were affordable and convenient. Credit union customers would be able to access their accounts and make payments through the post office. In turn, a transaction fee would be generated by each transaction that would provide a new stream of revenue for the Post Office. That could open up access to affordable credit and help consumers by breaking down the monopoly on supply. It is no wonder that the Finance and Leasing Association has briefed against that proposal and argued that it could restrict consumer choice and hinder competition, which is something that many legal loan sharks seem to think is okay for their specialist services.

Does the Minister stand with the loan sharks or the credit unions? What commitment will his Department make to fund the back-office integration of post offices and credit unions so that the post office network can provide credit union services and increase access to affordable credit for consumers? Those problems require us not only to legislate, but to look at what we can do for the families involved. We must not only clamp down on the exploitation practised by the firms, but extend access to affordable credit through credit unions.