Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of household debt in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produce estimates of household debt in the UK. In the UK as a whole, household debt-to-income increased from 133% in 2019 Q4 to 135% in 2020 Q2. It remains significantly below its pre-financial crisis peak of 160% in 2008 Q1.

The latest available data for household debt in the West Midlands relates to the period between April 2016 and March 2018. The data indicates that median household non-mortgage debt in the West Midlands over this period was £4,300, which was the fourth lowest of any English region. The ONS does not produce estimates of the level of household debt in Coventry and England.