In 2019 I was approached by a resident in tears. A single parking fine had spiralled into hundreds of pounds of debt. Having been unable to cover the original amount, they had no way to meet the ever-growing total. They were trapped in a cycle created by the very Council claiming to support local residents.
In this case I was able to get the resident out of the spiral through discussions with the Council, but I was shocked at the information - or lack thereof - which had been provided. I saw the aggressive, legalistic letters with no contact route to the Council; calling the number provided led only to an automated pay-line.
This was a problem before I became a Councillor; a harrowing story had been told in the BBC docudrama 'Killed By My Debt'. Yet no action had been taken. Working with the local newspaper, we forced the introduction of debt clinics to support those most in need without interfering with the use of responsible fines where appropriate. After a year dozens of individuals had been seen, individuals for whom appropriate debt plans could be put in place to stop the unnecessary escalation from fair fine to life-destroying debt.
