Call off bailiffs, councils urged as debt grows

MPs, peers and charities are urging councils to stop sending in bailiffs over unpaid council tax.

A Sunday Mirror Freedom of Information request revealed 88 of the councils that responded are collecting more through bailiffs than they were five years ago.

Sedgemoor in Somerset had the most dramatic rise, from just £458 in 2015/16 to £564,000 in 2019/20.

And Rugby, Cannock Chase, Derbyshire Dales and Gateshead doubled the amount they took.

Darlington went from £88,400 to £269,780 and Lancaster from £242,700 to £507,200. But Barrowin-Furness reduced the amount bailiffs collected by 42 per cent.

Nine million people were already in debt before the pandemic began.

Charity StepChange estimates 820,000 fell into council tax arrears due to lockdown, owing £500million.

MPs and peers led by former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan are calling for a Debt Management Bill to create a regulatory body for bailiffs.

Baroness Morgan said: “National and local government need to work together to change the incentives on debt collection. That means bailiffs used less and...other methods used to collect what is owed.”

Joe Shalam, of the Centre for Social Justice, said: “The consequences of aggressive and outdated debt-collection methods increase stress on already desperate families and can lead to suicide in the most serious cases. We need councils to pull the handbrake.”

Jane Tully, of the Money Advice Trust, said: “Bailiffs should only be used as a last resort.”