The Debt Talk podcast, Britain's highest-rated debt podcast, has now undergone a new visual transformation, thanks to Doug Haywood, the East End artist, and my design team. I thought I would share the new design with you before the release of the next podcast. As you can see, it is modern, forward-looking and dynamic. It embraces innovation while maintaining the original mission, which is to explore the causes of people getting into debt and provide practical solutions to these causes. If you want to be a sponsor or panellist based on your expertise, get in touch with me. ripon@debttalk.org Ciao bella!

  Just over 13% of the UK population are self-employed. Is being self-employed the way forward or are we forced to choose the path? In this month’s Debt Talk podcast, Ripon Ray spoke with three guests from different perspectives. James Harris has been self-employed for nearly 25 years in the creative sector. He explained how funding in the creative sector has been reduced. There are also very few fashion shows compared to when he began his career in the sector. His work began to dry out and it can vary from season to season. His biggest worry is personal finance since Universal Credit introduced the Minimum Income Floor leading to him getting into rent and other arrears. Andy Chamberlain - Director of Policy from the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-employed Limited - explained the direction of travel within the context of the self-employment sector. He focused on the construction sector is heavily relies on self-employment and then perhaps the creati...

 

Imprisonment is an option for many councils to enforce as a last resort if residents are wilfully refusing or are culpably neglectful to pay council tax in England. This month on the Debt Talk podcast Ripon Ray explored the ‘Prison & Council Tax’ . He invited Chris Daw KC and Russell Hamblin-Boone to find out whether it is fair and cost-effective to prison communities for non-payment of council tax. Chris Daw KC, a criminal law expert , explained the history of debtors' prisons in the UK and how they were used against impoverished communities. He emphasised how Margaret Thatcher’s government introduced imprisonment as an option based on politically driven ideology and how this policy could be changed by removing imprisonment from the council tax legislation. He highlights how costly it is to put someone in prison. Russell Hamblin-Boone outlined the changes in the enforcement industry and how it has adapted to meet the council's needs and identify financial and other vulner...

This survey is being conducted to understand, from the Bengali perspective, whether a Bengali debt advice and financial education service should be designed for the community.  Survey below:

  As part of the campaign to understand the needs of the Bengali community in the East End, Ripon Ray, a debt expert and author developed a survey to understand whether there is a genuine need for debt advice and financial education services in the East End solely for the benefit of the Bengali community and to influence global communities through innovative and tech tools.  The survey aims to understand whether the current advice and financial education provision meets the community's needs in light of the rising cost of living crisis.  London Bangla Press coordinated a Press Conference on 25 February at 2pm to raise awareness of the survey and the potential opportunities to explore such a need. Regardless of English language challenges, many of the local community of Bengali residents have already been in touch with Ripon through various platforms, including social media such as WhatsApp and other means to demonstrate their support and interest.  The current survey...