To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many calls received by the National Debtline in each quarter of the last two years (a) received an engaged tone, (b) were answered by an adviser, (c) were abandoned by the caller and (d) were abandoned. (138386)

The National Debtline is run by the Money Advice Trust. It does crucial work in helping the over-indebted with their problems.

The DTI have given National Debtline a grant of £1 million this year (as have the DCA) to help them continue to expand their assistance programme. We clearly value their work but we do not run National Debtline and questions about calls statistics are best posed to the Money Advice Trust direct. They are happy to assist and have contacted your office on this.