More Britons need help to clear debts

Latest reports say more people in Britain are turning to charities for support as poor households struggle under an increasing mountain of debt.

According to Press TV, the Citizens Advice charity noted on Monday that the number of people seeking help for council tax arrears in the UK has “rocketed” in the first three months of 2014.

The charity said it helped 27,000 people who had fallen into council tax arrears between January and March 2014, showing an increase of 17 percent on the same period in 2013.

Citizens Advice chief executive, Gillian Guy said “Consumer debts like credit cards and personal loans have traditionally been the most common debt problems that come through our doors, but since the end of council tax benefit, we’ve seen council tax arrears problems go through the roof.”

Meanwhile, the Money Charity warned in a report that the overall personal debt in Britain stood at over $2,400 at the end of February.

In April last year, the national council tax benefit scheme was replaced by a local council tax reduction scheme as part of the British government’s changes to the country’s welfare system. The Tory-led government also cut the budget for the new scheme by 10 percent or £414 million.