North Lanarkshire Council has been awarded £1 million from the Scottish Executive to help people in poverty and faced with debt problems.

The money, from the Financial Inclusion Fund, will be spent over the next two years to provide a range of practical measures to prevent people falling into debt and help others living in poverty to move out and stay out of these circumstances.

Among the services to be provided using this funding are:

• support for people most in need of help including advice and financial planning services;

• a debt awareness pack for secondary schools that will highlight the problems caused by debt and give guidance on managing money;

• a self help information pack with details such as local credit union and advice services, how to deal with creditors and the cost of credit;

• a strategy for the council to co-ordinate the various services that help tackle the problems of debt;

• additional money advisers to support residents across North Lanarkshire; and

• support the North Lanarkshire Credit Union Forum to expand the provision of credit unions across the whole of North Lanarkshire and the services they can provide.

Council Leader Councillor Jim McCabe, said:

"Like many communities across Scotland, in North Lanarkshire there are still people living in poverty, which can often be linked to other problems such as ill health and debt. The council and its partners already provide a range of services to help address these issues, including training and employment opportunities, support with childcare, and benefits advice. However, this funding from the Scottish Executive will allow us to expand the assistance we can offer to people facing real hardship.

"An important aspect of this will be to develop the network of credit unions to cover the whole of North Lanarkshire. Credit unions provide a secure and straightforward way for people to save and they provide a good return because their profits are all invested back into the organisation itself. We will also make more money advisors available to deliver the help people need with money worries as well as raising awareness of the issues surrounding debt and managing money among school children."