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Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the latest estimates of serious personal over-indebtedness; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh
There is no generally agreed definition of "serious personal over-indebtedness". However, the Policy Studies Institute in its report "Credit and Debt in Britain" which was published in February 1990 estimated that about 3 per cent. of all households (560,000) had serious debts.