Demsa

General I picked this story up on Lincolnshire Live. Tens of thousands more children are becoming eligible for free school meals, with two in five kids in some areas able to get them. A teaching union says it’s “shocking” numbers needing state-funded lunches continue to rise but warns they’re still not reaching all those who need them. Department for Education (DfE) data showed that there were 1.90m state school pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) in England this January… Read more

General update The risk of a recession has risen, ONS has warned, after the economy shrank during March 2022 just as the UK had started the recovery from the pandemic. Higher prices are "beginning to bite", with consumers spending less and cutting down on car journeys due to high fuel costs. As previously reported, the cost-of-living crisis has forced a significant response from the Chancellor on 26 May 2022, with further financial support for low-income households. Regulators are taking decisive… Read more

Further to my thought piece on the HM Treasury consultation around Statutory Debt Repayment Plans (SDRPs), Colin White of Credit-Connect has published this on his website. My thanks to the teams at In Control Debt Solutions, Moneysolve, Refresh Debt Services and The Debt Advisor/Bennett Jones for their time in reviewing the SDRP consultation this week following on from sessions that I held the week before. If you are interested in a Teams call then drop me a note. Link: https://www.credit-connect.co.uk/industry-opinion/hm-treasury-consultation-on-statutory-debt-repayment-plans-the-demsa-view/… Read more

General update Thanks to Colin Trend for spotting the headline that “UK consumer confidence falls to lowest level since 1974”. The headline UK consumer confidence index, a measure of how people view their personal finances and the wider economic outlook, dropped by 2% to -40 in May 2022, surpassing the previous record low of -39 set in July 2008 when the global banking system was imploding. Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/20/uk-consumer-confidence-falls-to-lowest-level-since-1974 This comes as inflation rose to 9% in April 2022. StepChange has… Read more

Ernst & Young and UK Finance on the Queen's Speech and UK Financial Services regulation Christopher Woolard is very active in the media in his new role at Ernst & Young after leaving the FCA in 2021. I have picked up on Data Reform further on. His short summary focuses on the Financial Services & Markets Bill where the Government intends to focus on ‘cutting red tape’ from regulation, with a focus on innovative technologies and ensuring resilient outsourcing to… Read more

Bank of England rate increase and inflation warning – review of SFS figures At its meeting ending on 4 May 2022, the MPC voted by a majority of 6-3 to increase Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 1%. Those members in the minority preferred to increase Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 1.25%. Several economists have speculated that continuing to increase interest rates will not work where the underlying reasons for rising inflation are not in our control.… Read more