Statement from R3 on the Breathing Space impact assessment

The Treasury has published an impact assessment of its forthcoming ‘breathing space’ scheme to help people in debt by giving them 60 days free from creditor contact in which to talk over their options with a professional debt advisor. 700,000 people are expected to take part in the scheme in its first year, and 1.2 million by the end of its first decade. The scheme is due to be introduced in 2021.

Mark Sands, Chair of insolvency trade body R3’s Personal Insolvency Committee, said: “The breathing space scheme is something we have campaigned for and supported for many years. Giving people in debt time to talk over their options with a professional advisor will help them to choose the right way forward for them, without additional stress or pressure.

“The Government’s prediction that many hundreds of thousands of people will benefit from the scheme in the first year that it is introduced shows the crying need for breathing space, and we eagerly await more detail on its introduction date and how it will be implemented.”