Number of people accessing pandemic debt relief help in Derbyshire rose by nearly a third last year

Across England and Wales, there was a 25% jump in the number of people registering for "breathing space" from debt last year. Debt relief charity StepChange said the rise is "encouraging", with the scheme successfully delivering good outcomes for people facing financial difficulty.

A standard breathing space application is available to people with problem debt and gives legal protections from creditor action for up to 60 days. They can be entered into once a year.

People can also apply for a mental health breathing space, which lasts the duration of their mental health treatment plus 30 days.

Figures from the Insolvency Service show 1,213 people in Derbyshire registered for a standard or mental health breathing space in 2023 – up from 933 the year before. It meant the breathing space rate was 18.7 per 10,000 adults in the area.

Nationally, there were 88,390 registered breathing spaces in 2023, equivalent to a rate of 18.5 per 10,000 adults. Of these, 1,462 registered for a mental health breathing space last year – up from 1,216 in 2022.

Simon Trevethick, head of communications at StepChange, said: "It's encouraging to see more people taking advantage of Breathing Space before accessing insolvency. Since its inception, the scheme has been successful in delivering good outcomes for people facing financial difficulty. It can reduce the pressure of a stressful situation when someone is dealing with multiple debts, and give them the space to fully engage with debt advice to regain control of their finances and get back on track.

Breathing spaces were introduced in May 2021 to help people facing financial difficulties because of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 200,000 total breathing spaces have been registered since the inception of the scheme.

They have seen a national drop in the number of people formally going financially insolvent, which includes bankruptcy, debt relief orders and voluntary arrangements. Some 103,454 personal insolvencies were recorded last year, a 13% fall compared with 2022. Of these, 1,527 were in Derbyshire – down from 1,775 in 2022.