Children's charity urges MPs to combat public debt across the UK

Landmark policies to stop debt owed to public bodies trapping Scots in poverty must be rolled out across the UK, according to a leading children’s charity.

Aberlour is urging Westminster politicians to help stop low-income families being aggressively pursued for debts, like rent or council tax, owed to public sector organisations.

The charity will meet MPs in London on Tuesday [14th January 2025] to explain how Holyrood ministers moved to write off school meal debt, for example, and how it helped protect families on the brink.

SallyAnn Kelly OBE, chief executive of Aberlour, will attend a round-table summit at Westminster to detail how public debt relief can help disadvantaged families and tackle child poverty.

She said:

It makes no sense for governments to give with one hand and take with the other.

“Ministers repeatedly promise to improve the lives of families living in poverty while organisations, acting on their behalf, are making things worse.

“Effective relief, including potential amnesties, for public debt like council tax and rent arrears must be integral to any wider efforts to ease poverty.

“One cannot succeed without the other.

“The way that money is pursued and collected must be overhauled to help families out of poverty instead of driving them deeper into debt.

“Designing a more humane and less punitive system is morally the right thing but, on a purely practical level, child poverty will never be properly tackled until the public debt crisis is tackled.

Aberlour successfully campaigned for the Scottish Government to write off money owed for school meals as ministers launched a £2.8m fund to cancel school meal debt owed by struggling families.

It is now calling on MPs to do the same across the UK as part of a wider campaign to ensure public bodies pursue debts with less aggression and greater understanding of how public debt is helping trap families in poverty.

The charity, which has delivered millions of pounds directly to disadvantaged families in recent years through its Urgent Assistance Fund, warns up to 75% of their debt is owed to public bodies.

Research suggests payments to families in Scotland receiving Universal Credit are reduced by almost £1000 a year because of public debt.

Labour MP Elaine Stewart is sponsoring the Aberlour event at Westminster and believes the changes in Scotland could help ease the lives of families across the UK.

She said:

Public debt owed by low-income families across the UK risks locking them into a vicious cycle of welfare payments that only service debt.
 
“If a different approach, such as debt relief mechanisms, can ease poverty on families then we should look at them across the UK.

A drop-in event on Wednesday afternoon will provide information to MPs at Westminster before a round-table in the evening when Kelly and Glasgow University academic Morag Treanor will highlight the impact of public debt on low-income families.

A three-year pilot programme in Tayside has been “transformative” for families facing challenges linked to poverty, according to Aberlour.

With support from the Robertson Trust and the Corra Foundation, and working with three Tayside local authorities, the charity has tested new ways of collecting money owed for council tax and rent which, analysis found, successfully reduced the impact of poverty on children and their families.

This article was written for The Sunday Post and published on Sunday 12th Janaury 2025.