Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to establish a breathing space scheme for vulnerable families in debt.

The government fully supports the principles of better debt management and lower levels of problem debt. This government has a manifesto commitment to introduce a statutory breathing space that would give heavily indebted consumers a period of respite from enforcement action, and further interest and charges for a period of up to six weeks. Where appropriate, they will be offered a statutory repayment plan to help them pay back their debts in a sustainable way. We will outline further information on how this policy could be implemented in due course.