Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent meetings Ministers of his Department has had with the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) Bank of England on recent trends in the level of personal debt.

This question was answered on 14th January 2021
The Government engages regularly with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor personal finances, including levels of consumer debt.

MaPS monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 people. The FCA conduct a biennial Financial Lives Survey, which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of 16,000 adults. Both surveys will be published in early 2021.

The Bank of England publish monthly statistics on money and credit and the FCA is undertaking further research to understand how the impacts of COVID-19 are evolving.