Government refuses loans to 79,150 low-income families in the West Midlands - Liberal Democrats

10.26.55am GMT Mon 2nd Feb 2009

Robin Lawrence

79,150 pensioners and families in the West Midlands had their application for a crisis loan turned down by the Government last year, figures highlighted by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

Applications for the loans, aimed at low-income families and pensioners unable to get credit elsewhere, rose by more than 97% last year to 208,580. The figures come at a time when the Government is encouraging banks to increase lending.

Councillor Robin Lawrence, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Wolverhampton South West said, "People who apply for crisis loans are desperate and have nowhere else to turn, yet too often they get turned away when they should be getting help.

"It is very worrying that with the recession hitting the Wolverhampton hard, even more people will turn to the Government for help. Yet the evidence for the past year is that more and more people will be turned away by Government run Job Centre Plus.

"At a time when the Government is demanding that the banks lend more, here we have the Government itself doing the opposite.

"The Government has got to practice what it preaches to the banks and make more cash available to families through these loans."