Liberties group attacks use of bailiffs to collect parking fines

The report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance libertarian offshoot Big Brother Watch follows a series of Freedom of Information requests. It found nearly 5,500 cases a day are passed to debt recovery agencies by councils in England, Scotland and Wales.

It details almost six million cases in which 318 councils across England, Scotland and Wales commissioned bailiffs to recover unpaid bills from 2007-10.

Edinburgh and Glasgow councils headed the table with 287,000 and 281,000 cases passed to bailiffs respectively. Leeds City Council was the highest placed Yorkshire authority in seventh overall with 124,379 cases.

Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “Sending in bailiffs to recover debts should always be the last resort. The fact local councils have passed almost six million cases to bailiffs for matters as trivial as the late payment of council taxes and parking fines is truly shocking.”

More than 4.5 million cases where bailiffs were hired involved collection of outstanding council tax bills, the rest were for unpaid parking fines. Many Yorkshire authorities employ bailiffs to recover overdue council tax. Leeds had 70,727 cases, Wakefield 17,563, Barnsley 19,183, Hull 15,664 and Sheffield 11,522. Bradford and Harrogate councils failed to respond to the survey.

Joanna Kennedy, chief executive of debt advice charity Z2K, said: “Councils’ computerised systems and collection methods are very cumbersome and produce a lot of inaccuracies. A lot owe them money because they are entitled to council tax benefit. It would be better and cost less if they targeted the ‘won’t pays’ rather than the ‘can’t pays’.”

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: “Bailiffs are only used as a last resort to collect money and we will always try to work with those in debt to resolve the situation. However as a responsible council it is right that, where necessary, we pursue the minority of individuals who choose not to pay council tax or parking fines.”

Mr Hamilton said he did not accept the use of bailiffs was always a responsible council measure. “In many cases, bailiffs are a law unto themselves – barging their way into people’s homes, intimidating vulnerable members of the public and imposing rip-off charges,” he said.

Records for authorities in Yorkshire reveal millions of pounds in council tax remains uncollected, often dating back to 1993.

Authorities with the largest amounts outstanding include Sheffield with £30m unpaid, followed by Leeds with £21m, Bradford with £18.5m, Wakefield with £15.7m, and Calderdale with £7.4m overdue.

Baroness Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Councils in England collect council tax from more than 20 million properties every year and recent figures showed that last year councils collected more than 98 per cent of council tax owed.”

But Leeds city councillor, Andrew Carter, said more could be done by councils to help offset cuts to services. “If the council collected £1.5m more they could keep open the day centres they are proposing to close, and the libraries and sports centres,” he said.

Local Government and Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: “People must take personal responsibility for their debts, and councils who neglect to collect their council tax push up bills for law-abiding citizens. But this survey shows that bailiffs are clearly being disproportionately used by town hall officials, when they should be the last resort.”