Justin Tomlinson MP & Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com At The APPG Launch
Justin Tomlinson MP is the Total Politcs Magazine - 'MP of the Month' for May.
http://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/156937/may-mp-of-the-month.thtml
With tuition fees, the educational maintenance allowance and free schools never far from the top of the agenda in the last few months, the financial future of Britain’s young people is something all MPs have found themselves engaged with. But Justin Tomlinson, Conservative MP for Swindon North, has pursued an innovative way of making a difference – he set up a new all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people.
The need for better financial education is startlingly apparent. According to research by the Personal Financial Education Group (PFEG), over half of teenagers in England have been in debt by the time they are 17. Nine in ten say they worry about money on a daily basis, and 26 per cent think that overdrafts are for ‘overspending’.
First elected to Parliament in 2010, this was an issue that Justin took on as soon as he arrived in Westminster. He pursued it through parliamentary questions, and was soon contacted by the PFEG charity with an offer of support for further campaigning. Consumer campaigner Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com came on board and the formation of an all-party parliamentary group got underway.
However, what marks out Justin’s campaign from others is the care and caution with which it was approached, despite the momentum that developed behind it in such a short time. As he explains, “we’re not rushing things” was the motto throughout.
“We spent three months meeting with relevant organisations, teachers and MPs with similar interests,” he says.
This strategy paid dividends, because by the time the group launched, it had moved MPs across the political spectrum to get involved and pledge their support. “We launched the APPG in January, with Martin Lewis as our ‘guest celebrity’,” Justin says. “We got 170 MPs signing up on the day, and it’s now gone up to about 220.”
Justin feels his own experience has demonstrated to him the urgent need for better financial education in Britain. “In ten years as a local councillor and now as an MP, I’ve seen through casework how quickly people can get overwhelmed,” he says.
His aim is to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to make their own decisions in the face of an increasingly confusing world of financial choices. “We live in an increasingly complicated consumer world where we are bombarded with marketing messages, direct debits, standing orders, mobile phone tariffs and so on. I want to help people become informed consumers and realise the value of shopping around. It’s about giving people the confidence to get the best deal for themselves.”
Following the APPG’s launch, in keeping with Justin’s desire not to “rush”, it has entered a period of inquiry and consultation. “Rather than just pitching up at the minister’s door with a consensus around the principles, we’re taking our time to answer all the obvious questions first,” he explains.
A six-month inquiry has been launched to gather evidence and explore options for bringing a higher level of financial education to primary and secondary schools. Although Justin chairs the whole APPG, Andrew Percy MP has taken responsibility for the inquiry.
However, despite Justin’s desire not to rush, there has already been a fair amount of interest from ministers in APPG’s progress. “I’ve had a couple of letters from Nick Gibb, the schools ministers, saying he’s keeping an eye on it,” Justin says. “David Willetts, the universities minister, has already been in contact as well, and we’ve had a meeting with him. That was really encouraging. Going forward, they’re going to include our group in future discussions about policy.”
The interest from ministers and the overwhelming support from MPs isn’t the only encouraging fact. According to PFEG research, 51 per cent of teenagers say they want to learn how to control their spending and more than three-quarters of 7-11-year-olds are already saving for the future.
The motivation seems already to be present in Britain’s young people, and with the help of Justin and his APPG colleagues, a new sense of heightened financial acumen could soon be on the increase.
For Justin, the successes that have already resulted from his campaign are extremely gratifying. “I’m exceptionally proud that what started with the first of many questions on this subject has snowballed like this. I’m really delighted,” he says.
From the editor:
For launching an APPG with a wealth of cross-party support and making real inroads on tackling the personal debt problem in Britain, Justin Tomlinson is our MP of the month. In bringing the lack of financial education available to Britain’s young people to the fore, he has spotted a gap in our approach to changing the culture around the way we manage our money. The rapid success of the APPG, and the fact that Justin was able to bring figures like MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis from outside the Westminster bubble into his campaign, demonstrates just how broad its appeal is. There can be no doubt that in highlighting this issue, Justin has brought some much-needed pragmatism to the debate about how policy-makers can protect Britain against the likelihood of another financial crisis.
Ben Duckworth - Total Politics Editor