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Credit union saviour

by Tom Rowley
26/11/2008

GLOSSOP MP Tom Levitt is in talks about setting up the area’s first credit union to help combat the recession.

He has been in negotiations with the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Association of British Credit Unions and the Unity Trust Bank and is confident a union could be launched some time next year.

"Getting the working capital and commitments from sponsoring bodies is the next stage," he said.

"I have been looking at what credit unions can offer for a couple of years, since the government changed the law to make it easier to set one up and to allow them to provide a wider range of services. I would anticipate that places like Gamesley and Whitfield have most to gain from a credit union in the Glossop area. 

"Some of High Peak’s most vulnerable residents face reduced access to bank credit and predatory attack by loan sharks.  Credit unions are co-operative financial institutions owned and controlled by their members. They operate for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at reasonable rates and giving financial services to their members," said Mr Levitt.

"In many parts of the country, especially traditional working class areas, credit unions are well established and effective. I want High Peak people to have the option of using a credit union."

Steve Minter, chief executive of High Peak Citizens Advice Bureau, said credit unions teach folk how to manage their money sensibly.

"Fifty per cent of our work is to do with debt and 70 per cent with other money matters. We see people at the sharp end. They often ask where can they borrow at a reasonable rate of interest, not the 150 per cent rates charged by loan sharks. Credit unions give them an affordable option.  They are also tightly regulated by law unlike most of the banks, which are lightly regulated and which have got us into this mess."