Main Messages

• In the first year of the https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9256/">Debt Respite Scheme, from 4 May 2021 to 30 April 2022, one in 736 adults (a rate of 13.6 per 10,000) in England and Wales entered a breathing space. The total number of breathing space registrations was 63,864.

• The North East was the region with the highest breathing space registration rate, at 17.9 per 10,000 adults, while London had the lowest, at 9.8 per 10,000. These are also the regions that had the highest and lowest rates of adults entering formal insolvency procedures each year between 2016 and 2021. Breathing space rates were also above average in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, and below average in the South East and South West. All other regions had rates within 1 per 10,000 adults of the England and Wales average.

• Breathing space rates varied by local authority from 5.9 per 10,000 adults (one in 1,682) in Camden to 55.8 per 10,000 adults (one in 179) in Halton.

• The local authorities with the highest breathing space rates were mainly in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber, although there were exceptions, such as North Devon and Gosport, which were both in the top ten. Eight of the ten local authorities with the lowest breathing space rates were in London or the South East, although Broxtowe and Ceredigion were also in the top ten.

• Local authorities with higher individual insolvency rates in 2021 tended to also have higher breathing space rates during the first year of the scheme.

• Breathing space rates were highest for adults between 25 and 44 and lowest for adults aged 65 and over. Three-quarters of individuals entering breathing spaces were aged between 25 and 54, despite this group making up only half of the adult population.

• StepChange Debt Charity registered 66.5% of all breathing spaces during the first year of the scheme. Citizens Advice registered 15.1%, meaning that more than four-fifths of breathing spaces were registered by these two organisations. Ten money advisor groups registered 93% of breathing spaces.