With the UK’s cost of living steadily on the rise and poverty levels getting worse, people on low incomes are being squeezed on every side. The result goes beyond the financial/economic with outcomes such as more families breaking up, higher rates of depression, increased reliance on food banks, more missed child support payments, as well as greater numbers of people resorting to desperate measures, including but only, substance misuse, prostitution and even suicide. Charities and community groups are under strain with falling donations despite increased demands on their resources. The COVID situation has only worsened matters. Thankfully, the UK Government has come out with some initiatives to provide much-needed support. However, there is need – not just for more money, but more relief. Many families and individuals are having to make huge repayments back to the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Some of these repayments are as a result of carelessness or proven fraudulent claims, although many are because of the DWP’s and HMRC’s own errors. Irrespective of underlying issues relative to each case of such repayments, Solace International believes that debt relief from the DWP and HMRC will be as helpful to low-income families as any vouchers and cash injections which the UK Government has so far provided or planned. We are therefore calling on the UK Government to facilitate the immediate and unconditional cancellation of all DWP and HMRC debts hanging over the heads of families and individuals on low incomes. This will not only ease their economic burden, but will boost mental health, as well as protect millions of socioeconomically vulnerable people across the UK from spending years making repayments which could send them further into poverty, with all its implications for the immediate and long-term future of the country.