'Worrying' rise in Bucks Council payments to bailiffs recovering tax debts

Buckinghamshire Council passed 13,673 cases to bailiffs between 2023 and 2024, a rise of 42 per cent on its 9,568 referrals over the previous year, according to figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) under freedom of information laws.

Debt charity StepChange warned the council against increasing its use of bailiffs, while community union Acorn said the rise was ‘worrying’.

Bailiffs or ‘enforcement agents’ acting on behalf of the council are provided by Newlyn and Chandlers.

The two companies recovered debts and assets worth £3.5 million for the council from 2023 to 2024, compared to £1.7 million the previous year.

Figures also showed a drop in total unpaid council tax from £8.7 million between 2022 and 2023 to £7.7 million over the last financial year.

The council says it uses bailiffs to recover council tax debts as a last resort when people have ignored final notices and warnings.

It is far from the only local authority to recover debts in this way, with bailiff use by councils estimated to have risen by an average of almost 20 per cent earlier this year, according to BBC News.

But the ‘grotesque’ debt recovery processes increasingly used by some authorities have been criticised by campaigners, including consumer expert Martin Lewis.

In a speech in September, he claimed council debt collection was ‘so aggressive it would make the banks blush’ and warned that ‘loan shark’-like recoveries ‘accelerated distress’ for people in debt, especially those with mental health problems.

Recent research by StepChange showed bailiff action against people in council tax debt had an ‘overwhelmingly negative impact’ on them, with the vast majority reporting that it impacted their mental health, ability to get enough sleep or think about the future.

Emily Whitford, a senior public policy advocate at the charity, told the LDRS: “Bailiffs should always be a last resort.

“Yet far too often local authorities refer the most vulnerable people struggling with living costs and difficult life events to bailiffs instead of providing the proactive, compassionate support they need to get out of financial difficulty.”

She called for the Enforcement Conduct Board – the voluntary oversight body for the bailiff industry – to become a statutory organisation to ‘stamp out bad bailiff practices’.

Acorn also gave its view on Bucks Council’s rising bailiff use, warning enforcement visits pushed people ‘already struggling to scrape by during a cost of living crisis’ further into debt.

Anny Cullum, a policy officer at the union told the LDRS: “The increasing use of bailiffs to collect council tax debt, and in cases other than as a last resort, is worrying.

“We know that bailiff visits are incredibly distressing and have a damaging effect on the health of people and our communities.”

Acorn said Bucks Council pursuing a more ‘ethical debt collection policy’ could lead to an increase in council tax collection rates, as has happened at Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

Ms Cullum said: “Instead of bailiff companies profiting from misery, we want to see early intervention from councils when people start to fall behind, helping them to access all the support and advice available to them and engaging in affordable repayment plans.”

Both Newlyn PLC and Chandlers Ltd declined to comment for this story. Buckinghamshire Council has been approached for comment.