To consider the following Notice of Motion, which has been submitted by Cllr A.H. Crawford pursuant to Standing Order 9 (1):
“That this Council engage with the Stop The Knock campaign of the Money Advice Trust to improve its debt-collection practices using the six steps to:
1. Make a clear public commitment to reduce the Council’s use of bailiffs over time.
2. Review the Council’s signposting to free debt advice, including phone/online channels.
3. Adopt the Standard Financial Statement to assess affordability.
4. Have a formal policy covering residents in vulnerable circumstances.
5. Exempt Council Tax Support recipients from bailiff action.
6. Sign the Council Tax Protocol and review current practice against the ‘Supportive Council Tax Recovery’ Toolkit.”
Minutes:
The Council was asked to consider the following Notice of Motion on debt collection practices which had been submitted by Cllr. A.H. Crawford in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 9 (1):
“That this Council engage with the Stop the Knock campaign of the Money Advice Trust to improve its debt collection practices using the six steps to:
(1) Make a clear public commitment to reduce the Council’s use of bailiffs over time
(2) Review the Council’s signposting to free debt advice, including phone/online channels.
(3) Adopt the Standard Financial Statement to assess affordability.
(4) Have a formal policy covering residents in vulnerable circumstances.
(5) Exempt Council Tax Support recipients from bailiff action.
(6) Sign the Council Tax Protocol and review current practice against the ‘Supportive Council Tax Recovery’ Toolkit.”
In introducing the Motion, Cllr Crawford stated that the
Motion had been inspired by the latest
report from the ‘Stop the Knock’ campaign that the Money Advice Trust had
launched the previous month to improve local government debt-collection
practices.
As a member of the
Welfare Reform Group, Cllr Crawford considered he was aware of the care that
the Council took to assist the vulnerable in meeting the minimum Council Tax
contribution of 12% from those who qualified for Council Tax Support, including
providing help from the Hardship Fund, where it was considered necessary. However, the Trust report showed that, since
the last report covering 2016/17, the Council’s use of bailiffs had increased
by 11%. Using the Money Advice Trust
data, Cllr Crawford had tracked back over the previous five years and found
that the Council’s use of bailiffs had increased by 120% since 2014/15. It had more than doubled from 882 referrals
in 2014/15 to 1,928 in 2018/19.
Cllr Crawford also
pointed out that, when he had examined the Money Advice Trust data, bailiff
referrals for Council Tax had gone down from 702 in 2016/17 to 247 in
2018/19. However, Cllr Crawford stated
that bailiff referrals for parking had more than doubled from 817 in 2014/15 to
1,657 in 2018/19. He felt that the
Council dealt with parking debts quite differently from other debts and that
difference might be the source of the Council more than doubling its use of
bailiffs over the previous five years.
He was of the opinion that it looked harsh –
when a Penalty Charge Notice of £25, if paid within two weeks, could end up costing
several hundred pounds when enforced by bailiffs. Cllr Crawford referred to the inquest held the previous year of a
debt-ridden young man, Jerome Rogers, who had taken his own life shortly after
bailiffs had clamped the motorcycle that was essential to his work as a
courier, in pursuit of two £65 parking fines imposed by his local council.
Cllr Crawford
advised that the Money Advice Trust report set out another five steps, some of
which the Council had already taken. The Trust had stated that it hoped to work
with local authorities in order to achieve all six steps, which were set out in
the Motion.
In seconding the
Motion, Cllr Christine Guinness stated that the Council signing up to review
its practices would be a good start. She
was of the opinion that the Council should do more to
find out if the recipients of Council correspondence had any issues reading and
understanding what was being sent to them.
One solution could be to make a home visit to explain ways in which the
Council might be able to help. Cllr
Guinness advised Members that 64 local authorities had signed up to the
campaign and called on the Council to support the Motion to demonstrate that
the Council cared.
During discussion, views were expressed regarding the steps already taken by the Council to recognise the special circumstances of vulnerable people and that several steps were taken before the use of bailiffs. Attention was also drawn to the Council’s protocol to be followed in order to help residents avoid the use of bailiffs. The view was also made that the Council’s debt collection practices were adequate and that these were kept constantly under review. It was also suggested that debt collection practices could be something that could be examined by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Reference was also made to the effect on the poor, desperate and vulnerable of the use of bailiffs for relatively small debts and the need for a more sensitive approach to be taken.
On a recorded vote, there voted: FOR: Cllrs Gaynor Austin, T.D. Bridgeman, A. Chowdhury, A.H. Crawford, K. Dibble, C.P. Grattan, Christine Guinness, A.J. Halstead, Nadia Martin, T.W. Mitchell, Sophie Porter, M.J. Roberts (12); AGAINST: Cllrs Diane Bedford, J.B. Canty, Sophia Choudhary, D.E. Clifford, P.I.C. Crerar, P.J. Cullum, L. Jeffers, Prabesh KC, J.H. Marsh, S.J. Masterson, A.R. Newell, M.L. Sheehan, M.D. Smith, P.G. Taylor, B.A. Thomas, Jacqui Vosper, J.E. Woolley (17); and ABSTAINED: The Mayor (Cllr Sue Carter) and Cllr C.J. Stewart (2) and the Motion was DECLARED LOST.