CM July_August 2019

NEWS SPECIAL
Solid Foundations
Phil Andrew speaks to Sean Feast FCICM about his first
full year as Chief Executive of StepChange Debt Charity.
657,930
clients contacted us
+
6.1%
6,315
Debt relief orders set up
+
40%
306,391
clients completed a
debt advice session
+
0.3%
£432m
of debt repaid by our clients
+
0.8%
Phil Andrew
56,660
clients started a
managed solution
-
8.3%
£110m
written off with our support
24,310
became debt free with
our support
+
7%
+
15%
THE need for debt advice
in this country is growing
– and growing rapidly. By
2022 it is estimated that
more than two million
people in the UK will need
debt advice every single year. At present
the entire debt advice sector has the
capacity to help less than one million
people.
Phil Andrew believes there is a moral
obligation to meet the needs of those
struggling with problem debt; it’s why
he’s set out ambitious plans to double the
number of people StepChange can help:
“Inextricably linked to this,” he says, “is
the need to help people before they fall in
to crisis and also to ensure we continue to
provide consistent advice, of the highest
quality, at a cost that allows us to help as
many people as possible with the limited
funding we receive.”
In its latest impact report, published in
May, StepChange revealed the huge strides
it is taking towards helping more people,
reflecting also on the people it has already
helped, how they have been helped, and
what steps it is taking to build a more
effective and efficient organisation.
ADVICE AND SOLUTIONS
In 2018, Phil says that StepChange helped
more people than ever, with 657,930
people getting in contact – someone every
48 seconds.
“And we continued to offer that support
right from the first contact through to
someone becoming debt free,” he says.
“We also kicked off a landmark new
We reduced our
client advice cost by
4.2%
We supported the
development of the Single
Financial Statement (SFS)
major policy
4 wins
influential research
8 and data reports
Our partners referred
154,611
clients to us for
telephone advice
initiative to track what difference debt
advice makes. This looks at the wellbeing
of our clients on various measures at
different times after receiving debt
advice.”
Its initial findings set out the real areas
where it has a significant positive impact
for its clients and looks honestly at where
debt advice is less effective, particularly
noting less positive results for vulnerable
clients with negative budgets.
Government introduced the
No Interest Loan Scheme pilot
major FCA interventions
4 matching our goals
We continued to collaborate
with Citizens Advice and
Business Debtline to direct
clients to the right advice
provider for their needs
We continued
to develop our
customer relationship
management system
(CRM) to better
serve our clients
10 consultation
responses
Parliament legislated for
Breathing Space within
the Financial Guidance
and Claims Act 2018
“As a charity we have a responsibility
to manage our money effectively and
efficiently,” he continues. “We want our
partners and funders to have complete
confidence that their contributions are
having the greatest impact possible.”
What is clear, he believes, is that the
sector is significantly underfunded. “In
2018 we’ve been leading conversations
around Fair Share contributions
whilst also calling for an effective and
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / July/August 2019 / PAGE 10