Mendip Liberal Democrat Councillors have won a vote to safeguard children and the vulnerable, including those suffering with serious physical or mental illness, from bailiffs in the Mendip Council area.

As a result, the Council will now use bailiffs to collect Council Tax only as an ‘absolute last resort’. Furthermore, the tax collection and enforcement policy of the Conservative-led Council will be reviewed.

The motion was proposed by the Lib Dems after local and national debt advice organisations and charities raised serious concerns about the harmful effects of local authorities’ use of Enforcement Agents (bailiffs) to collect Council Tax from vulnerable households and families with children.

Mendip Citizens Advice Bureau‘s latest Annual Report shows that debt is a major area of work for the charity in this area, and that Council Tax forms about 20% of the debt problems it deals with.

After it was revealed that Conservative-run Mendip Council referred 2,639 Council Tax payment cases to bailiff companies in 2014/15 – over 10 a day – the Mendip Lib Dem team felt compelled to act.

In March, the Children’s Society’s ‘The Wolf At The Door’ Report published evidence underlining the scale and seriousness of harm done by the use of bailiffs on families with children and young people. The Step Change Debt Charity’s report ‘Council tax debts: How to deal with the growing arrears crisis tipping families into problem debt’ also highlighted the negative effects of bailiff enforcement action on people struggling with problem debt, and the savings that councils can make by using a more enlightened approach to debt repayment.

In August, the Money Advice Trust’s ‘Stop The Knock’ report found that sending bailiffs in only deepens debt problems for people in financial difficulty. Citizens Advice also issued a nationwide call for councils to use ‘every other option’ to collect debts before resorting to bailiffs.

Cllr Adam Boyden who led on the motion said:

“When the Lib Dems learned that one in every 20 properties in Conservative-led Mendip received a knock at the door from a bailiff – the highest in Somerset – we felt compelled to act. We firmly believe Mendip Council can collect the tax owed to it compassionately and responsibly, ensuring people who fall behind with payments receive debt advice and support to make affordable payments, reducing the need for expensive Court action. Heavy handed bailiffs should only ever be used as a last resort, and never where vulnerable people and children are involved.”

“Thankfully, although six Conservative Councillors voted against our plans and 12 abstained, our proposals were passed, which we hope will mean vulnerable people and those in genuine financial difficulty will no longer be dealt with by bailiffs by Mendip. As a result of the motion, the Council will now sign up to a ‘good practice protocol’ with the CAB, and work with local agencies who can help its review.”

Local Lib Dem Councillors are encouraging anyone with experience of dealing with Mendip District Council’s debt collection agencies, or those with suggestions for ways in which Mendip’s practice can be improved, to contact Cllr Adam Boyden at aomboyden@yahoo.co.uk

Ends

For information, please contact:

cllr Adam Boyden on 07809 284817 or aomboyden@yahoo.co.uk

cllr Ros Wyke on 01749 870347 or roswyke@yahoo.co.uk

cllr Helen Sprawson-White on 07713 565265 or helensprawson@yahoo.co.uk

The following motion was approved at the meeting of Mendip District Council on 22 October 2015:

“Council Tax Bailiffs, Children and Vulnerable Households

In light of informal complaints from a local debt advice organisation about the Council’s use of Enforcement Agents (bailiffs) to collect Council Tax from vulnerable households (including families with children), the recent research and recommendations from The Children’s Society (‘The Wolf At a The Door’ report) and National Debtline (the recent ‘Stop The Knock’ report), data which shows the council referred cases to bailiffs 2659 times for Council Tax in 2014/15 (5% of properties), and the LGA and Citizens Advice Bureau’s ‘Collection of Council Tax arrears Good Practice Protocol’ (2013) and Good Practice Guidance from DCLG, the Council resolves to:

1. Work with independent debt advice organisations to ensure that people falling behind with Council Tax payments are given early free debt advice and helped to set up affordable repayment plans to pay off their debts to the Council in an effective way; and
2. Review its Council Tax debt collection procedures where vulnerable people and families with children are involved, and to only use bailiffs as an absolute last resort, in order to safeguard children and vulnerable households; and
3. Seek to sign up to the Local Government Association and Citizen Advice ‘Collection of Council Tax Arrears Good Practice Protocol’, as recommended by the Government; and
4. Report the Council’s Review to Scrutiny Board, and programme in an annual review into Scrutiny Board’s annual programme.”

22 councillors voted for the motion (the 8 Liberal Democrats present, 2 Green Party and 12 Conservatives).

6 Conservatives voted against the motion and 12 Conservatives abstained

In March 2015 the Children’s Society’s ‘The Wolf At The Door: How Council Tax debt collection is harming children’ report found that there are 1.6 million children living in 900,000 families who have faced Council Tax debt in the UK, and that councils which use bailiffs to call on families with children are harming the emotional health and well-being of children and young people, with children feeling frightened and worried as a result. See http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/resources-and-publications/the-wolf-at-the-door-how-council-tax-debt-collection-is

Also in March 2015, StepChange Debt Charity’s report, ‘Council tax debts: How to deal with the growing arrears crisis tipping families into problem debt’ found that bailiff enforcement action has a negative effect on people struggling with council tax debt, and that enlightened councils should encourage people to seek early debt advice and repay their debts at an affordable rate, as a steady, proportionate approach to debt repayment actually yields a higher recovery rate than heavy handed enforcement. See http://www.stepchange.org/Mediacentre/Pressreleases/Counciltaxarrears2015.aspx

In August 2015, National Debtline and Money Advice Trust’s ‘Stop The Knock’ report examined local councils’ use of bailiffs, echoed concerns that sending the bailiffs in can deepen debt problems and affect the wellbeing of people already in a vulnerable situation, and found that for many people their local council is the organisation that will be the most aggressive in chasing them if they fall into financial difficulties. It found that too many councils are far too quick to escalate to bailiff action when better preventive work, earlier detection and support for people who fall behind are far better options for all concerned. See http://www.moneyadvicetrust.org/media/news/Pages/Stop-The-Knock-2015.aspx

Also in August, Citizens Advice responded to this by issuing a national call for councils to use ‘every other option’ to collect debts before resorting to bailiffs. See https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-citizens-advice-works/media/press-releases/bailiff-use-must-be-last-resort/

Mendip Citizens Advice‘s latest Annual Report (2013/14) shows that debt is a major area of work for the charity and council tax forms just 5% of the total client debt but about 20% of the debt problems they deal with. See http://www.mendipcab.org.uk/report.html

Mendip District Council referred Council Tax payment cases to Capita-owned bailiff companies 2,659 times in 2014/15 (around 10 referrals per working day) which is a fall of 9% from the previous year, but still equates to 5% of properties in the district, a higher proportion than any other district in Somerset. The ‘Stop The Knock’ research shows the number of debts passed to bailiffs in 2014/15 was equivalent to 0.7% of properties in South Somerset, 1.7% in Sedgemoor, 2.1% in Taunton Deane, 4% in West Somerset (Source: http://www.stoptheknock.org/).

In 2013, the Government issued Good Practice Guidance on the Collection of Council Tax Arrears (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax). This stated that enforcement is a necessary and important part of Local Authority activity, but it is important that councils are sympathetic to those in genuine hardship, are proportionate in enforcement and do not overuse bailiffs. It advised that councils should guide people away from enforcement, and work with debt advice agencies to design ways of identifying and dealing with vulnerable people. Also in 2013, the Local Government Association and Citizens Advice issued a Good Practice Protocol on Council Tax collection (see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/campaigns/current_campaigns/recent-campaigns/council-tax-arrears-good-practice-protocol/), to encourage local councils to sign up to and improve their policies in relation to vulnerable households experiencing financial difficulties. The Government encouraged councils to sign up to the Protocol and work with local Citizens Advice offices to improve their policy and practice.

Full letter to Frome Standard

After the front page Frome Standard article this week I wrote a short letter to explain further, and the full longer version is below:

Dear Editor,

As reported last week, I was pleased that as a result of our Liberal Democrat motion at Mendip District Council, councillors agreed to review the council’s tax collection and enforcement policy and practice to ensure children and vulnerable residents are safeguarded, and to only use bailiffs to collect Council Tax as an ‘absolute last resort’. We proposed the motion after local and national debt advice organisations and charities raised serious concerns about the harmful effects of local authorities’ use of Enforcement Agents (bailiffs) to collect Council Tax from vulnerable households and families with children. We saw that the Council referred 2,639 Council Tax payment cases to bailiff companies in the last year – over 10 a day, which means that one in every 20 properties is getting a knock at the door, the highest proportion in Somerset. Mendip Citizens Advice (CAB)‘s latest Annual Report showed that Council Tax forms 20% of the debt problems it deals with.

This year several national charities called for councils to change their policies. The Children’s Society’s ‘The Wolf At The Door’ report published evidence underlining the scale and seriousness of harm done by the use of bailiffs on families with children and young people. The Money Advice Trust’s ‘Stop The Knock’ reported that sending bailiffs in only deepens debt problems for people in financial difficulty. The Step Change Debt Charity’s report ‘Council tax debts: How to deal with the growing arrears crisis tipping families into problem debt’ also highlighted the harm bailiff enforcement action adds to people struggling with problem debt, but also identified the savings that councils can make by using a more enlightened approach to debt repayment. Citizens Advice also issued an urgent nationwide call in August for councils to use ‘every other option’ to collect debts before resorting to bailiffs.

Two years ago, the Government issued Good Practice Guidance on the Collection of Council Tax Arrears, and the Local Government Association and Citizens Advice issued a Good Practice Protocol on Council Tax collection. These called for councils to be sympathetic to those in genuine hardship, not to overuse bailiffs, and to work with debt advice agencies to agree how vulnerable people are identified and dealt with.

We firmly believe Mendip Council can collect the tax owed to it compassionately and responsibly, and even more effectively, to ensure people who fall behind receive early free debt advice and support to make affordable payments to their Council Tax bill a priority, to help stop council tax becoming an expensive problem debt. Bailiffs should only ever be used by the Council as a last resort, and never where vulnerable people and children are involved.

Thankfully, despite objections from a minority of Conservative councillors, our proposals were passed by Lib Dems, Greens and other Conservatives. As a result of the motion, the Council will now sign up to the ‘good practice protocol’ with the local CAB, and will work with local agencies to undertake its review. A number of potential improvements have already been identified by Mendip CAB, Mendip Community Credit Union, and the Children’s Society, and we hope to see this constructive dialogue continue. The Council already provides valuable support to the work of Mendip CAB in its debt advice service, and to the Mendip Community Credit Union on the rent deposit scheme, so it makes sense for the Council to work with them on its tax collection practices as well.

If anyone has relevant experiences to share, or has suggestions for ways in which the Council’s practice can be improved, to help the Council’s review, please contact me at cllr.boyden@mendip.gov.uk.

Adam Boyden, Mendip District Councillor, Frome College ward (Liberal Democrat)

Update 27 November 2015:

The first meeting of MDC’s new Council Tax Bailiffs Working Group is next week. Referrals to bailiffs have since April, and the Working Group will explore ways of reducing this further, to protect children and vulnerable households.

Update December 2015:

I attended the first meeting of the Mendip’s Bailiff Working Group, set up after the council motion I and other Lib Dems proposed was passed in October. The Council’s policies in collecting Council Tax are now being reviewed to find ways of further reducing the use of enforcement agents (bailiffs) which can harm vulnerable residents and families in financial difficulties. Mendip Citizens Advice and Mendip Community Credit Union will be involved and consulted in the review.

Update 4 April 2016:

Last autumn, I heard concerns from the Mendip Community Credit Union volunteers, and also Mendip Citizens Advice and national debt advice organisations, that Mendip’s use of bailiffs to collect council tax was potentially harming vulnerable households and families struggling with debt. Mendip used bailiffs more often than other districts in Somerset, so we asked for the council tax collection policies of the Conservative-run council to be reviewed.  As result of the Lib Dem motion I led, a cross-party working group was established to look at how the council could better support vulnerable people and families struggling with debts to pay council tax without referring people to bailiffs. A report with 10 recommendations to improve the system was agreed, and approved by Mendip’s Scrutiny Board in March. The council should now be working with Mendip Community Credit Union and Mendip Citizens Advice to implement the recommendations. This should really help vulnerable and financially stressed households get the support they need. Thanks go to the volunteers of Mendip Community Credit Union for raising these concerns in the first place. Update: Mendip District Council’s press release on this is here.

The Mendip Community Credit Union work to enable people in a community to come together to save ethically and to borrow money at competitive rates. If more people volunteer, the MCCU could reach even more people, so to give or receive help please email info@mendipcommunitycu.org.uk, see https://www.mendipcommunitycu.org.uk/, call 0800 622 6036, or come to Frome Library on Saturdays between 10am and 12 noon or to the Key Centre on Thursday mornings between 9.00 and 11.30am.

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