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The Executive is therefore workingwith MATRICS to encourage individual money advisers to become approved for the purposeof applying for debt payment programmes on behalf of debtors.

As part of that effort the Executivereviewed the scheme between December 2005 and February 2006. As a result of thatreview, the Executive announced on  24 May 2006 thatthe scheme would be amended to allow for a payment programme to include debt relief.

This change has been welcomedby the money advice sector, and it is hoped that it will lead to an increase inthe number of approved money advisers.

Further changes to the schemeare still being considered, and may be introduced after consultation with MATRICS.

The Executive set up a Debt ReliefWorking Group to look at the issue of access to bankruptcy under current law. Thegroup reported in June 2005, and the Executive is considering their recommendationsfor reform.

It is intended that considerationof the report will be completed in the near. A decision has yet to be made on whatmeasures should be introduced in the bill, if any.

The new protections include aprotected minimum balance where a bank account is arrested, currently of £370. Thiswill make sure that all debtors on low incomes of any kind will have enough moneyto live on, including debtors being paid housing benefit. There is also protectionunder the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, which provides for housing benefit tobe paid direct to a landlord where a tenant is in substantial rent arrears.

There are currently thereforeno plans to exempt housing benefit from bank arrestment.

One possible amendment is theintroduction of debt relief. Different ways of delivering debt relief are thereforeunder consideration, and they include both freezing of interest and compositionof debts.

The issue of implementation doesnot arise as a decision has yet to be made on including any form of debt reliefin the scheme.

As part of striking the rightbalance, the intended new diligence of land attachment already includes robust debtorprotections that will apply where homes are attached, including a power for thecourt to refuse to agree a sale that will have an unduly harsh effect, and a dutyon the court to look at whether there is suitable alternative accommodation.

Also, land attachment is a diligenceand debtors can therefore stop an attachment by getting help and support from thenew Debt Arrangement Scheme

The Executive nonetheless notesthe recommendation in the stage 1 report that the main dwellinghouse should be exempted.We will therefore consider carefully whether or not to make changes at stage 2 of the bill.

In partnership with the ScottishExecutive, the fund carried out an extensive consultation last year to inform thepolicy directions which have now been issued by Scottish ministers. In developingthe investment framework to implement these directions, the fund has worked closelywith a range of stakeholders, including Scottish Executive Departments.

Scottish ministers welcome thefund’s investment approach and its undertaking to make 60% of its funds availableto support voluntary sector activity. The fund’s investment framework, which waslaunched by ministers on 22 November 2005, was opened to applications on 2 May 2006.