11.02.22

Another fairly quiet week, albeit one punctuated by continued bureaucratic frustrations. Given that the council is incapable of replying to a query in 30 days, it seems a little rich that it requests the return of an income & expenditure form (with a payment offer, of course) in 14.

The fact is, most of my clients have no money with which to make offers of repayment.Their only income is state benefits, and they have (often large) deficit budgets, which they are making 'work' by missing payments on various bills. Quite what the council thinks it will achieve by sending in bailiffs in these cases, beyond heaping misery on already stressed and distressed residents, is beyond me.

The Freeman-on-the-Land from the other week has gone quiet, seemingly unhappy about my differing interpretation of contracts and liability. I will continue to offer him a service, but I doubt he will take it.

I've also had a lot of no-shows this week, mostly from new clients. That's frustrating, partly because I expect they'll be back when things have got (even?) worse and are harder to unpick. Mostly, however, and I say this quietly so as not to provoke the fates, I'm a little bored.

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