The A4e Blog

Welcome to A4e's blog!

This blog is brought to you bi-weekly by Mark Lovell, the Executive Chairman of A4e. He will be presenting to you the issues at the heart of the nation's debt worries, as well as telling you how he really feels about them.

A4e is a social purpose company that designs, manages and delivers front line public services. Its mission is to 'Improve People's Lives' and it is a company that blends social values and commercial principles in the delivery of its services.

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2012's worry list

Wednesday 18th January 2012
So we’re back after Christmas; will 2012 bring improvements in our personal financial situations? Twice a year we sample our consumers, many of whom are out of work or have just entered the labour market, on a range of issues. We have had responses from hundreds of people so far and it provides a good snapshot of the things on people’s minds and their feelings about finances. We gave people a range of issues to rank in terms of their personal concerns in the coming year covering health, finances, family and work. It isn’t a surprise that the top three were all finance related: 1.    Being able to pay bills especially utilities; 2.    Finding money to pay for emergencies; 3.    Coping with travel costs to work. Interestingly, there was little difference in responses between people out of work and in work, although people out of work were relatively more worried about travel costs. Managing debt was sixth on the list of issues, with the same level of concern across employed and unemployed respondents. Utilities in particular continue to be a big concern. I have talked in the past about the disparity of cost between someone who has access to a bank account which enables payment...
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A payday Christmas

Wednesday 14th December 2011
There has been a lot of coverage in the last week or so on the back of the payday loan market. Radio 4 had a crack at it on Today and Which! released the outcome of its investigation into the market. As Christmas approaches, this will continue to feature in the press alongside the other short term lenders.  One of the tweets from a customer made a very good point. I have often talked about ‘financial capability’ and changing financial ‘behaviours’ in these blogs. I have not spent as much time talking about how it feels when you are in this position.   The tweet made the point that, as a consumer, you often feel like the first person you come across who will offer to lend you some money is the only choice.  This is true of so many of the people I come across. Many know they are in difficulty. As a result, they grasp the first opportunity for cash that comes their way.   Many people in this position also suffer mental health problems as a result of debt. A lot of people are not familiar with how mental health issues inhibit your ability to make sensible decisions. Depression is not...
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A sense of perspective

Tuesday 15th November 2011
Since such a lot of statistics come pouring into the press and media, it is often hard to get a sense of perspective. For example, a recent report on personal insolvencies showed the number had reduced in the past three months and bankruptcies were down by 31 per cent from this time last year – so that is good news then, isn’t it?  The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) recently also released a report that identified 6.2 million households as financially vulnerable. Of these, 3.2 million were already either: (a) three months behind with a debt repayment or (b) subject to some form of debt action such as insolvency. The groups that were particularly vulnerable included two million households on low incomes, two million people in rented accommodation and 600,000 lone parent families.   A large part of A4e’s services reflect the way government chooses – sensibly in some cases – to deploy its resources. Services and interventions focus on people in difficult circumstances. However, when budgets are under pressure and resources diminishing, this can lead to what we see in many public services - cuts to existing provision. So we need to shift the status quo. What the CCCS report shows – and what I...
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Young people, finance and debt

Tuesday 4th October 2011
Recently, there have been renewed calls for the compulsory delivery of financial capability education in schools. This is something I have had an interest in for many years. A good few years ago, my company started its work on helping people with their financial planning and challenges by providing a service in conjunction with HBoS to provide courses to kids in schools. Young people, finance and debt is a very challenging space. The subject of University fees changes the need to plan and drives lots of debate with some young people but often the level of understanding amongst the kids I speak to is incredibly varied.  Similarly, their experience with their parents and adult role models can impact in a way it is very difficult to interpret. If we doubt that young kids think and talk about money, we are out of touch. This clip from a recent BBC programme aptly demonstrates that:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00hfbk4 Some children have never had to think about money, others have to fend for themselves, many reflect the examples set in their families. This means there are very diverse views –“use as much debt as possible; spend what you earn; save and don’t use plastic; survive hand to...
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Addressing the debt spiral

Tuesday 6th September 2011
Given the recent unemployment figures, a few people have contacted me on dealing with redundancy and the problems that can develop through debt. Post crash in 2008, one of the biggest issues I came across in our legal aid helpline was debt where either: (a) people had ignored the ‘warnings’ from debtors and/or (b) had not taken advantage of ‘holidays’ in payments, insurance or their entitlements in relation to benefits and welfare payments.  People are becoming much more aware about how quickly debt can spiral out of control if arrangements with lenders are not addressed quickly. Charges for unapproved facilities and missed payments are extremely high and compound quickly. The stress of redundancy is bad enough without letting these issues develop into an uncontrollable problem.   The good news is that lots of organisations can help with advice on these issues.  Nationally, my own organization, A4e, does, as does Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, the Money Advice Trust and the Money Advice Service.   In addition, there are many local organisations that can offer support. Planning expenditure and ensuring you are signed up to all benefits to which you may be entitled is crucial. As is the tax treatment of any redundancy payment and arrangements with all...
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