GovWire

This Debt Fairness Charter is for people who owe personal debt to central government. It outlines how people repaying these debts should be treated, as well as some additional actions that people may need to take to help this process.

It is important for central government to manage the debt owed to it. The tens of billions of pounds that is collected every year is used to pay for vital public services that UK citizens rely on, such as health, welfare, and education.

Central governments vision is to achieve fair debt outcomes for all. This means ensuring that people who can pay, do so on time, whilst providing or signposting appropriate advice and support to help those in financial hardship.

This Debt Fairness Charter has been developed by the Government Debt Management Function (GDMF) Functional Centre, who provide deep expertise and strategic leadership for the wider GDMF, which includes c.7,000 public servants who work across 20+ ministerial departments and Arms Length Bodies (ALBs).?

This is the first version of the Debt Fairness Charter, and it will be reviewed annually.

The Charter works alongside other resources including the Debt Management Vulnerability Toolkit and Economic Abuse Toolkit, and responds to feedback raised through the Fairness in Debt Management Call for Evidence.