Life On Debt Row

That the Parliament welcomes the new report, Life On Debt Row, published by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) on the effect of debt on health and wellbeing; understands that the report includes a league table of credit types according to their impact on people’s mental health; further understands that payday loans and unauthorised overdrafts proved to have the worst effect on mental wellbeing, such as leading to poorer quality of sleep, poorer eating habits and less time spent socialising, while credit unions were found to have the least serious impact on mental wellbeing; believes that credit unions are the primary ethical alternative to high-cost credit in the UK; understands that they are approaching £900 million in lending, which represents almost 98% of social lending in the country, including in the Cunninghame South constituency, and notes the recommendations in the report, which include putting an end to targeted marketing of high interest loans to vulnerable individuals, the inclusion of health warnings on the marketing and credit agreements of the most unhealthy forms of credit, and better signposting to debt and mental health services by lenders, health services, local authorities and universities.