Firstly, we had the ICM British Credit
Awards at the Park Lane, London Hilton on Wednesday last and, from all the
feedback I've received so far, it was our best awards event yet, and one of the
best the industry has ever seen. Over and above the joy of celebrating with all
those who were short-listed for awards, and particularly with the winners, the
evening was a triumph with exceptional entertainment from The Three Waiters,
and superb hosting by Martin Bayfield. It was great to spend a night in the
company of colleagues from across the industry and a reminder of what
organisations like the ICM do so well.
Secondly, on Thursday, Michael Gove - the
Education Minister - announced that the new draft National Curriculum for
England will see financial education embedded in both mathematics and in
citizenship education, making financial capability a statutory part of the
curriculum for the first time ever.
Specifically, the new programme of study
for Citizenship includes the functions and uses of money, the importance
of personal budgeting, money management and a range of financial products and
services in Key Stage 3, and wages, taxes, credit, debt, financial risk
and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services in Key Stage
4.
This announcement follows a prolonged pfeg
(Personal Finance Education Group) campaign supported by the All Parliamentary
Group on Financial Education (chaired by my local MP, Justin Tomlinson) and by
hundreds of MPs, teachers, parents, and professional bodies including the
ICM. It is a triumph for pfeg which coincidentally was the chosen charity for
our Awards Dinner and will benefit from the many financial pledges made on the
night in its mission to support education providers in giving children and
young people the skills, knowledge and confidence to manage money.
As I write these words, more pledge cards
are still being received so we do not have a final figure of commitments made
but, from our work with pfeg in recent years, I am confident that it will all
be put to good use and will help to ensure that the next generation is better
equipped to deal with personal finance and debt than the current generation.
On that subject, the ICM Think Tank this
week focused on the role of the advice sector, and particularly the work of
StepChange Debt Charity that has been helping people break free from problem
debt for 20 years. It was useful for the group of senior executives from across
the credit industry to learn more about the charity's mission and work,
and to discuss the role of the advice sector and its relationships with the
creditor community.
Finally, it was good to see the publication
by the Insolvency Service of its Debt Management Plan Protocol which aims
to protect and promote the needs and best interests of consumers who take out
DMPs. In particular, it should help to ensure there is a greater level of
consistency and transparency and weed out some of the unscrupulous operators
who are conspiring to give the sector a bad name.
All in all a good week then!
