Last night's Full Council meeting was longer on noise than on achievement, so I thought I would mention the Illegal Money Lending Team (ILMT) instead. This is coming up for discussion at the next Trading Standards Board. It is a specialist team based in Birmingham and funded through a specific government grant (when central government wants something the money mysteriously becomes available despite austerity).
It concentrates on what can often be the very complex business of prosecuting unlicensed money lenders. I have occasionally come across such cases, and it is horrible to see how they can fleece people. They are in fact much worse than Wonga and other payday lenders, although I would not defend payday loans either. The Birmingham team is being empowered to pursue cases in Brent that meet their specialist skills, and I wish them every success.
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