Council sends bailiffs to thousands of homes

Over 10,000 residents have been summoned to the courts in the past year

Thousands of vulnerable people are having their homes visited by bailiffs because they are unable to keep up with their council tax payments.

Shocking new figures have revealed how 10,500 Rochdale residents have been summoned to the courts by Rochdale Council in the past year. Almost a third of these people have been visited by bailiffs.

The Liberal Democrats obtained the figures under the Freedom of Information Act in order to highlight a national problem, but in Rochdale, where there is a Lib Dem cabinet, the news is said to have shamed the council for its “heartless” tactics. Although, unlike national statistics, no-one in Rochdale has been made bankrupt.

A tenant and mother of four from Shawclough, who did not want to be named said: “Rochdale Council is the worst council I have ever experienced for housing and council tax. The communication is poor, the prices are high, and there is no leeway whatsoever if you need help.

“I’ve been threatened with all sorts of legal action because I went through a stage where I was struggling to keep up, they couldn’t care less, they just want their money”.

Nationally, figures showed that 1,200,000 people across the country received a court summons last year, with nearly 600,000 people visited by bailiffs.

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen said, “Over the last few years, Rochdale Council has really stepped up its collection rates. I am pleased that our Council see bankruptcy as a last resort as no one was made bankrupt. I feel though that in the current economic climate we need to exercise a great deal of patience. That is not to say that we should let people off Scot free. The Council need to work with people who are struggling and find solutions and avoid courts and bankruptcy at all costs.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "Just as lenders are being asked to reduce repossessions, public bodies should do everything they can to ensure that bankruptcy is only ever a last resort.”

The most common method to try to recover tax was an attachment of earnings order, in which a debtor's employer is asked to deduct the money from their salary and pay it directly to the council. Authorities can launch a bankruptcy petition where more than £750 is owed.

The Local Government Association (LGA) confirmed the Lib Dem figures but said 99% of people who received a summons or were referred to bailiffs did not actually end up in court or have any goods seized.

Leader of the Labour party Councillor Colin Lambert: “Not only does Rochdale Council collect the money owing to them but they use threats of bailiff and eviction to council tenants for not paying money owed to private companies. Such as United Utilities.
The council has to introduce a system that does not allow debt to get to the level where they have to start down the line of bailiffs. Advice has to be available at the earliest stage.

“The council needs to work with residents and ensure that we find solutions where bills are paid without the add ional cost of courts and bailiffs.

Public bodies should do everything to collect monies owed, without increasing the debt and the likelihood that the debt may never be collected”.