Maybe it says something about how our politicians live on a different planet and have no understanding of how us little people in the real world operate.

Or maybe it's just incompetence, but the Government's debt service, set up to help people struggling in one way or another to meet their financial commitments, is having to turn people away after a surge of 28% in the number of those seeking help, according to a report by the National Audit Office out today.

It has to be said that the service is well-received, with 81% of those who have used it saying that it helped them, it's just that the Government was obviously ill-prepared to deal with the numbers that flocked to use it. Clearly, that must mean they have no real idea of the extent of the debt problem with which ordinary people are seriously struggling.
When you look at the figures, we owed £1.46 trillion in debt at the end of last year, with personal borrowing representing 160% of our annual household income before tax, then it's no surprise that research suggests around one in 10 people are struggling to keep up with their borrowings.

But it's not these numbers that the Government is concerned about. It's how much it costs them to deal with each individual that comes to the debt service that really floats their boat. It costs an average of £265 to provide face-to-face debt advice, but telephone advice costs just £51 and internet advice is cheaper still.

The free face-to-face service is facing serious shortfalls with a quarter of agencies admitting they're either turning consumers away or forcing them to wait for more than a month for help in the 12 months up to July last year.

Strangely enough, one in four people who actually managed to make an appointment said that, after all, they would have preferred to receive advice over the phone or on the internet.

I guess it is good to discuss your financial problems with someone face-to-face but it's another thing to have to put up with the look of pity pasted on their face.