Citizens Advice warns of "Bailiff Boom" as families struggle with council tax cuts....

[tomtubby]

Following the introduction of the Government Welfare Reforms last month Citizens Advice are seeing evidence of a huge increase in online enquiries from families struggling with council tax debts:

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/24/bailiffs-council-tax-citizens-advice_n_3329872.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

[brassnecked]

Looks like the secondhand shops will be full of worthless goods as people sell stuff to stay one step ahead of the bailiff, and values will plummet as the bailiffs clear houses goods seized and removed will fetch 5% or less of value at auction, but bully bailiff won't care, it will be steak and chips for him whilst his victims will be lucky to afford a tin of economy beans to feed a family.

[tomtubby]

I am seriously concerned with the impact on vulnerable people under the new Welfare Reforms. The changes are only just being felt and it is a very worrying time indeed.

[tomtubby]

To further highlight the seriousness of the changes imposed under the Welfare Reforms that have recently been introduced, an 80 year old vicar has decided to stop paying his council tax and will if necessary, go to prison in order to highlight the problems facing vulnerable and impoverished members of the public.

 

What will be worrying for the Government is that the vicar is very high profile person and until very recently, was a member of the Enforcement Law Reform Group which for the past 14 years has been lobbying Parliament for better regulation of the bailiff industry ( I have been a member of ELRG for the past 6 years).

 

Reverend Paul Nicolson is Chairman of the anti poverty charity; Zaccheus 2000 Trust which is commonly known as Z2K and last year he founded Taxpayers against Poverty ( which was set up to oppose changes under the welfare reforms which will affect the poor).

 

Zaccheus 2000 provides assistance to vulnerable families with very little income in and around Haringey, Westmintser,Barnet, Southwark and Southwark.

 

 

http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/10391395.Vicar_refuses_to_pay_council_tax_to_protest_benefit_changes/

[Mark1960]

You are not the only one-Benefits are in place to give people the minimum amount of money deemed required to survive-The councils are now taking some of this money off them which seems contrary to the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (S 187)

 

In addition people are being taxed for living in a property that they may have occupied for 10 years or more because there are families living in overcrowded conditions-Does this tax get passed on to the people in the overcrowded conditions? No Do the people in overcrowded conditions get tax relief? No.The money goes to the councils whose directors pay themselves nice big employer paid pension plans that are in excess of the wages for the average man.

 

If people struggle to find this money,bailiffs are let loose to inflict duress and intimidation as its the cheapest option available under the A & E regs.A complaint to the council is fell on deaf ears despite the LGO Focus Report 28th Nov 2012 highlighting concerns that councils do not investigate complaints properly.

[citizenB]

To further highlight the seriousness of the changes imposed under the Welfare Reforms that have recently been introduced, an 80 year old vicar has decided to stop paying his council tax and will if necessary, go to prison in order to highlight the problems facing vulnerable and impoverished members of the public.

 

What will be worrying for the Government is that the vicar is very high profile person and until very recently, was a member of the Enforcement Law Reform Group which for the past 14 years has been lobbying Parliament for better regulation of the bailiff industry ( I have been a member of ELRG for the past 6 years).

 

Reverend Paul Nicolson is Chairman of the anti poverty charity; Zaccheus 2000 Trust which is commonly known as Z2K and last year he founded Taxpayers against Poverty ( which was set up to oppose changes under the welfare reforms which will affect the poor).

 

Zaccheus 2000 provides assistance to vulnerable families with very little income in and around Haringey, Westmintser,Barnet, Southwark and Southwark.

 

 

http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/10391395.Vicar_refuses_to_pay_council_tax_to_protest_benefit_changes/

 

Pensioners have done this previously in order to highlight the problems regarding Council Tax. If I recall, one elderly lady with-held some because she believed she wasn't getting VFM. I think she was quite upset when an anonymous person paid the outstanding CT, because she had her bag already packed ready for her prison stay.

[citizenB]

2011

 

 

A pensioner who had to sell her wedding ringto meet her living expenses vowed to go to jail today after appearing in court for failing to pay all of her council tax.

 

June Farrow, 72, wore a hand-written placard around her neck with the message'Council Tax Injustice' when she arrived at Norwich magistrates court.

 

The retired nurse from Bawburgh near Norwich, Norfolk, has only been paying £25a month in council tax for the last three months as she claims she cannot afford her full monthly bill of £99 without dipping into her savings.

Read more : - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2027483/Pensioner-June-Farrow-facing-jail-refusing-pay-council-tax.html

 

 

2005

 

 

Retired social worker Sylvia Hardy, 73, has become the first woman pensioner to be jailed for refusing to pay council tax arrears when she was sentenced to seven days in prison.

 

Silver-haired rebel Sylvia Hardy, from Exeter, Devon, had failed to pay her arrears from last year - £53.71 in council tax plus £10 costs.

 

She was sentenced today at Exeter magistrates court.

 

 

Another Vicar

 

 

Retired vicar Alfred Ridley, 71, from Towcester, Northants, earlier this month became the first person to be jailed - for 28 days - for no-payment of £63 of his council tax bill.

 

Read more : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1499246/Woman-73-jailed-for-failing-to-pay-council-tax.html

 

And they kept him in a high security prison !!

 

 

A retired vicar, jailed for refusing to settle his council tax bill, has been told he will spend all his sentence in the high security Woodhill Prison.

 

Read more : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/4235774.stm

 

Edited May 28, 2013 by citizenB

[citizenB]

2010

 

A 75 year old retired soldier - this was one where an anonymous donor paid the outstanding CT - Although this article was written in 2010. It seems as though this happened in 2006.

 

 

Soldier tax protester freedafter secret donor pays debt

A 75-year-old retired soldier jailed for refusing to pay his council tax was today being freed after an anonymous benefactor cleared the £1,300 debt, a local authority said.

 

Great-grandfather Richard Fitzmaurice, of Heacham,Norfolk, was given a 32-day sentence by magistrates in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on Monday after King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council failed to persuade him to pay his latest annual bill.

 

Mr. Fitzmaurice said he was not paying because he thought the tax unfair. A council spokesman today said an anonymous donor had cleared the debt and Mr. Fitzmaurice would be freed later.

“The debt has been cleared by a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous,” said a spokeswoman for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk BoroughCouncil. “We have informed the Prison Service and would expect Mr. Fitzmaurice to be released later today.”

 

Read more: http://sniggle.net/TPL/index5.php?entry=15Nov10

 

From what I can see from googling, there were quite a few pensioners who were prepared to stand up against the CT increases.

[citizenB]

I wonder how many of theseCouncils were ones who invested Tax Payer's money into the Icelandic banks !!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7659783.stm

At least 20 councils in England and Wales are known to have deposits in Landsbanki - some of tens of millions.

Kent County Council alone has £50m in Iceland-based banks, while Westminster City Council revealed it had deposits totalling £17m.

 

Sutton Council in south London confirmed it had exposure totalling £5.5m, and Havering Council in east London said it had investments worth £12.5m.

 

North Lincolnshire Council has £2m invested with Landsbanki and £3.5m in the firm's UK bank, Heritable. North East Lincolnshire Council said it had £2.5m on deposit with Landsbanki.

 

Hertfordshire County Council has £17m invested, while Buckinghamshire has £5m - the same sum as Cornwall County Council.

Edited May 28, 2013 by citizenB

[tomtubby]

Pensioners have done this previously in order to highlight the problems regarding Council Tax. If I recall, one elderly lady with-held some because she believed she wasn't getting VFM. I think she was quite upset when an anonymous person paid the outstanding CT, because she had her bag already packed ready for her prison stay.

 

I have met Reverend Paul Nicolson on many occasions in the past 6 years and I would hazard a guess that he intends to see his protest through to the bitter end and he would not be pleased if anyone paid the debt on his behalf.

[citizenB]

I have met Reverend Paul Nicolson on many occasions in the past 6 years and I would hazard a guess that he intends to see his protest through to the bitter end and he would not be pleased if anyone paid the debt on his behalf.

 

Whilst I am not advocating civil disobedience, if enough people do this, will it change government's stance on this ?

[Mark1960]

I would say no-As was seen in the poll tax revolt 20 years ago

[tomtubby]

I wonder how many of these Councils were ones who invested Tax Payer's money into the Icelandic banks !!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7659783.stm

 

CitizenB

 

I am sure that you will not mind if I tell you that the information that you have given of "at lest 20 councils" having deposits in Landsbanki does not in fact give the true picture.

 

In their article the the BBC only provided details of the local authorities known at that time to have deposits in one of the Icelandic banks called Landsbanki.

 

The following link provides details of 88 local authorities that had deposits in various banks in Iceland. Given that there are just 333 local authorities it demonstrates that 25% of all councils displayed a most appalling recklessness with tax payers money .

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/10/localgovernment-iceland

[tomtubby]

Many people would be surprised to know that most local authorities in England & Wales have a fortune tied up in works of art.

 

There are approx 200,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the UK according to the Public Catalogue Foundation and around 10% of these are held by LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

 

These works of art include LS Lowry, Picasso and so many other famous painters.

 

Many local authorities have loaned their art collections to galleries in Italy and New York.

 

The plot thickens.....

[citizenB]

CitizenB

 

I am sure that you will not mind if I tell you that the information that you have given of "at lest 20 councils" having deposits in Landsbanki does not in fact give the true picture.

 

In their article the the BBC only provided details of the local authorities known at that time to have deposits in one of the Icelandic banks called Landsbanki.

 

The following link provides details of 88 local authorities that had deposits in various banks in Iceland. Given that there are just 333 local authorities it demonstrates that 25% of all councils displayed a most appalling recklessness with tax payers money .

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/10/localgovernment-iceland

 

Not at all, thank you for this information. It makes it even more shocking that the tax payer and more importantly the vulnerable are having to pick up the pieces, yet again.

 

[seanamarts]

And they still use the taxpayers money recklessly on frivolous things. I can name a few things my own council have done and wasted thousands.

 

I cannot get my head around the fact that these people who are sent to prison for a few hundred pounds, mainly pensioners, get sent to prison, because it costs far more to keep them there than what they actually owe.

 

Who is being punished here the non paying tax person or the government, which in turn are funded by the taxpayer.

 

I admire the people who do this, to make a stand for such an unfair government with regards to the council tax, however it will take far more people to stand together before something is done.

 

Its the taxpayer that really loses out here because in due course the government will reap back the losses by putting up the taxes further.

 

I fear that it will take something like a pensioner dying in prison before this kind of punishment will stop.

[Mark1960]

The money they rake in on illegal charges forissuing summons's & obtaining liability orders make the cost of jailing the odd non-payer look like chicken feed.

[tomtubby]

Mark,

 

You have just said that councils are raking in money from illegal charges for issuing summons & liability orders. This is not the case at all.

 

The councils may indeed apply charges and this is provided in the statutory regulations.

 

Where the problem arises is with the councils calculation of the amount of the summons costs etc.

[brassnecked]

Meanwhile in the cold cruel really real world, Cameron enjoys his holiday, as the Independent reports that councils and housing providers are preparing to evict families for rent arrears accrued due to the Bedroonm Tax

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tenants-face-eviction-over-controversial-bedroom-tax-8633008.html

 

and

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/blind-widow-threatened-eviction-home-1908070

 

And the connection to bailiffs? Well who will be tasked with collecting arrears still due after eviction,..... THE BAILIFF, no doubt they will attend the B & B the family are in and threarten to seize goods.............

 

As a board member of a housing charity, I am concerned and afraid for our vulnerable tenants.

[tomtubby]

brassnecked

 

I had no idea until reading your above post that you are a board member of a housing charity. These are very worrying times indeed for vulnerable tenants. The next few months could well be serious.

[Mark1960]

Mark,

 

You have just said that councils are raking in money from illegal charges for issuing summons & liability orders. This is not the case at all.

 

The councils may indeed apply charges and this is provided in the statutory regulations.

 

Where the problem arises is with the councils calculation of the amount of the summons costs etc.

 

I believe the charges are illegal TT.

 

As you well know,Reg 34,7 (b) allows for sums equal to costs incurred.

 

Whatever way you look at it or whatever slant you put on it £80-£120 for a couple of computer generated letters,postage & stationary does not equate to anything near £80-£120 if we were just talking about one individual case,let alone the block bookings that magistrates courts regularly deal with,often rubber stamping 100's of LO's in less than an hour.

 

The A&E regs are abused from Schedule 5,all the way through to 34,7 (b).

 

For a council to obtain monies that are over and above that prescribed in the A&R,they must be acting illegally yet they are continually permitted to get away with it.If people were allowed to receive costs on the basis of the precedent that the councils have set then at least a balance would exist,however it doesn't work like that.

[lamma]

Many people would be surprised to know that most local authorities in England & Wales have a fortune tied up in works of art.

 

There are approx 200,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the UK according to the Public Catalogue Foundation and around 10% of these are held by LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

 

These works of art include LS Lowry, Picasso and so many other famous painters.

 

Many local authorities have loaned their art collections to galleries in Italy and New York.

 

The plot thickens.....

 

If your spleen is sturdy look at Whole of Government Accounts (WGA)

[brassnecked]

brassnecked

 

I had no idea until reading your above post that you are a board member of a housing charity. These are very worrying times indeed for vulnerable tenants. The next few months could well be serious.

 

The next few months could be a harrowing time indeed, at least in Wales the full council tax will be covered for families on low income at least for this year that were formerly entitled to full Council Tax Benefit unlike England, but the Spare Room Subsidy aka bedroom Tax is going to be a massive issue. Incidentally the name is a misnomer as what other rooms could they later decide are spare? a dining room, a utility? the mind boggles

[tomtubby]

Lamma

 

I last looked at the Whole of Government site a couple of years ago. I had a brief glance a few moments ago and your advice is correct....you need "a sturdy spleen" or in my case......a large glass of white !!!

[brassnecked]

Having looked, one feels like more thsn a couple of stiff drinks.