This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Helping people with their personal finances
06/06/2005
Organisations across Scotland, from banks to local
authorities, have been urged to work together to ensure
everyone has access to financial services, such as bank
accounts and insurance.
Deputy Communities Minister Johann Lamont called for
action as she launched Scotland's first Financial Inclusion
Forum today.
The Forum brings together key organisations to generate
and share ideas to help people take control of their own
finances.
Detailed distribution of £10 million to support
financial inclusion was also announced today. Ten local
authorities with the greatest concentration of financial
exclusion, will receive a share of this funding.
Ms Lamont said:
"It is simply unacceptable that in Scotland there are
areas where as many as one in five people have little or no
experience of using the basic financial services so many of
us take for granted such as bank accounts and
insurance.
"I expect banks, local authorities, housing associations
and RSLs, community planning partners, credit unions and
other key players to work together to provide access to
bank accounts and affordable credit, to make saving
possible, to help people understand and manage their
everyday finances and ensure that information and advice
are available when people get into debt.
"Those coming together today have a shared
responsibility for ensuring that poverty is not exacerbated
by lack of access to financial services. I know there is a
great will amongst organisations to provide solutions and
use their different knowledge and experience. I look
forward to working with the Forum to make progress on
developing new and innovative ways to end the exclusion so
many experience."
The Forum will come together through large annual events
and smaller local networks in order to improve financial
education and inclusion, delivering on Scotland's Financial
Inclusion Action Plan, published by the Executive earlier
this year.
Detailed distribution of £10 million which supports the
Action Plan will be allocated to 10 local authorities with
the greatest concentration of financial exclusion in their
areas.
In line with the Closing the Opportunity Gap target, £5
million per annum for 2006/07 and 2007/08 will be
distributed to the areas where there are currently the
greatest problems of financial exclusion. This is based on
levels of income deprivation and the numbers of Scottish
people without a bank account or savings.
Allocations to local authorities
Local Authority
| % households without bank account or
savings
| % of LA population that are income deprived
| Funding allocation (£) (per annum 2006/07,
2007/08) |
|---|
| Glasgow City | 21.9
| 27.8 | 900,000 each year |
| West Dunbartonshire | 15.8
| 21.2 | 600,000 each year |
| Inverclyde | 15.2 | 18.8 | 600,000 each year |
| North Lanarkshire | 14.5 | 18.5 | 500,000 each year |
| South Lanarkshire | 14.1 | 15.5 | 500,000 each year |
| Renfrewshire | 13.1 | 15.8 | 450,000 each year |
| Dundee City | 12.9 | 19.7 | 450,000 each year |
| West Lothian | 10.6 | 13.8 | 350,000 each year |
| East Ayrshire | 10.5 | 18 | 350,000 each year |
| Eilean Siar | 8.9 | 15.2 | 300,000 each year |
The Financial Inclusion Forum conference was held in
Glasgow and was the first conference of its kind in
Scotland. The conference brought together over 200
delegates including those from local authorities, the
voluntary sector, credit unions, financial institutions and
representatives from money advice services, from housing
associations and other organisations such as Communities
Scotland.
The Scottish Household Survey shows that:
- 11 per cent of adults don't have a bank or building
society account
- 37 per cent of households have no savings
- 40 per cent of households in rented accommodation
do not have home contents insurance