Tuesday 3rd September, 2013

Six Yorkshire councils have joined forces to block the websites for all known payday lenders in the country.  The councils which represent 2.4 million residents and employ 67,000 employees have taken the step of blocking the websites of all known payday lenders from all council terminals – including those in libraries and face-to-face customer contact centres as well as all staff computers.

This agreement follows on from the announcement last month that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred the whole of the payday lending industry to the Competition Commission because of concerns about the practices used by the industry and the impact on vulnerable citizens.  All councils in West Yorkshire – Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield - along with City of York Council have taken the step to block the sites of almost 200 high interest payday lenders.

Although a few other councils across the country have also taken this step, today’s announcement represents the single biggest initiative in the country in the campaign against what are described as predatory lenders. Anyone attempting to access Payday lender websites on a council computer will instead be redirected to an information page which will provide information about sources of money and debt advice and alternative sources of affordable credit and banking services through local credit unions.

It has been estimated that across the six councils' geographic areas there are likely to be somewhere in the region of 78,000 residents who currently have payday loans. The payday lending industry has been one of the fastest growing parts of the financial services sector over the past five years and there are fears that it is having a significant impact on the lives of many people. National charity Step Change have reported that 42% of young people aged between 16 and 25 who come to them for help have debts to payday lenders.

Councillor Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council and chair of the Association of West Yorkshire Councils said;  "We are seeing more and more evidence of people finding themselves with serious debt problems after being enticed into taking out loans from payday lenders. A recent survey of 113 lenders by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau found 9 out of 10 applicants were not asked to provide proof that they could afford the loan. It can be no surprise that this sort of irresponsible lending leaves many people facing serious hardship. This is an industry which must face greater controls over their operations, but, until they do, we feel that it is necessary to take this action."

The news comes as Wonga today announced a profits rise of 36% to £62m, with £1m profits made each week.