Bailiffs tried taking my kids’ toys over council tax debt – people shouldn’t have to go through this

MPs and MSPs including Jeremy Corbyn and Carla Denyer have backed a call to ban bailiffs from collecting council tax debt, warning it is “hurting families and hurting communities”.

Community union ACORN handed an open letter to new housing secretary Steve Reed’s office and Welsh finance secretary and former first minister Mark Drakeford demanding that governments take action to protect people in council tax debt from facing bailiff action.

The Westminster government opened a consultation to reform the council tax system in June – branded “broken” by money guru Martin Lewis. The consultation, which closed last week, included proposals such as switching to 12-monthly billing by default from 10 months, and giving more time for people to seek support.

Government figures, released at the time, showed council tax arrears in England rose by 10% to £6.6 billion in the last year. That means an estimated 2.2 million people are behind on bills. Arrears rise to £8.3bn when Wales and Scotland are also included.

For people like ACORN member Viv Roberts (not her real name), the experience of getting a bailiff visit in January 2019 has stayed with her.

Childminder Roberts, from Manchester, was made liable for the whole year’s council tax bill after she was late with a payment. That saw bailiffs demand £600 from her on the spot while she was looking after children.

She needed to borrow cash from a relative after bailiffs refused a request to pay the council tax debt in instalments.

“I was a childminder then and they wanted to take my resources so I said no. I asked the options, they said I would have to pay it there and then, or they would take my belongings – my TV, my kids’ toys, my cars, or I could go to prison.” said Roberts

“Each time I hear the word ‘bailiff’ I can see that bailiff in front of my face who refused payment plans. It’s just not fair. It’s affected me mentally because each time it reminds me and makes me upset to know that people have to go through this.

“I was a childminder so I had my television, my computer and the children’s toys that they would have to take to sell to recoup the money. It was a good thing that I was working so they couldn’t get into the property otherwise it could have been another way around.”

With councils facing funding challenges, the future of council tax has come under scrutiny in recent months amid speculation that the chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering sweeping reforms.

This year’s spending review has given councils in England permission to raise council tax by 5% each year. Councils facing desperate financial problems are often given permission to hike bills by even more.

That has come at a time when energy bills, rents and other essential costs have also been rising as the cost of living crisis hit Britain in recent years.

And council tax is considered regressive: it makes up a disproportionately larger proportion of bills for people on lower incomes.

Read more:

• A year of Labour: How has the Starmer government fared in helping people out of debt?
• Store cards and buy now, pay later debt landed this single mum in court. What if there was another way?
• I carried the weight of my £60,000 debt alone. Then one conversation changed everything

Writing for Big Issue, Vikki Brownridge, CEO of StepChange debt charity, said a third of the people they help with debt have council tax arrears with people typically owing over £2,000.

She said some councils do offer compassionate support but the threat of prison and enforcement action pushes some people away from contacting local authorities for help.

Brownridge said: “Being scared to tackle your debt problems doesn’t necessarily mean that you are trying to avoid your obligations. Behavioural insight consistently shows that people are much more likely to communicate if they believe an organisation will genuinely try to help them.”

That’s why ACORN has launched an open letter to reform council tax collection.

Roberts told Big Issue that her experience drove her to support ACORN’s campaign for reform.

“If someone missed their payment in May then they have to pay for the rest of the year,” she said.

“It’s just so unfair, I was quite lucky because I had a family member who could loan me the money but what about those that don’t have it.”

MPs and MSPs from the Labour Party, Greens, Plaid Cymru and independents have signed the open letter. Many are from Labour’s left, including former deputy leader candidates Bell Ribero-Addy and Paula Barker.

Benefit cut rebels Ian Byrne, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell have also signed the letter, as has John McDonnell.

Elsewhere, Greens Carla Denyer and Sian Berry are also among the signees alongside former Labour MPs Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn, who are setting up their own left-wing party.

Another Green politician, Bristol City Council leader Tony Dyer, also represents local government in adding his name.

The letter urges the governments in London and Cardiff to to use early intervention and support for those struggling to pay, rather than heavy handed enforcement action and court orders.

The union is also calling for an end to the postcode lottery faced by people who fall into council tax arrears. They want mandated protocols to make sure everyone gets access to support and fair treatment wherever they live.

Westminster ministers have said they want to “make council tax fairer, more transparent and easier to manage” as well as “support, and not to punish, people who fall behind”.

Ultimately, ACORN is demanding ministers commit to replacing council tax with a proportional property tax. 

A proportional property tax, which is promoted by the Fairer Share Campaign, is a single flat rate tax charged annually at 0.48% of a property’s value.

Campaigners argue this rate would raise the same amount as council tax, bedroom tax and stamp duty, with all three replaced under the mooted new system.

As the tax is a flat rate, it would see people with more valuable properties pay more tax while those who live in less valuable properties would likely see bills fall. Campaigners claim this would see around 19 million households pay less.

The current plans would also see only homeowners pay rather than tenants, though the Fairer Share Campaign acknowledges that it is likely landlords would pass at least a portion of these costs on to tenants.

“A proportional property tax would ease the cost of living for millions, reduce regional inequality, and provide sustainable funding for councils across the country,” Fairer Share founder Andrew Dixon told Big Issue in June.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

Reader-funded since 1991 – Big Issue brings you trustworthy journalism that drives real change.

Every day, our journalists dig deeper, speaking up for those society overlooks.

Could you help us keep doing this vital work? Support our journalism from £5 a month.