Kensington and Chelsea Town hall ditch the use of bailiffs for recovery of council tax
BY JULIA GREGORY
Local Democracy Reporter
yann@slpmedia.co.uk
Residents who have got into difficulty paying council tax or business rates will have less reason to fear the knock of bailiffs at their door.
Kensington and Chelsea council has decided to put an end to its use of external enforcement agencies to collect outstanding debts.
Instead it is working with Citizens Advice and the Samaritans to help train its staff to spot signs of people getting into real financial trouble or struggling with mental health difficulties.
The council has drawn up safeguarding and anti-poverty policies which mean it aims to help residents with money problems and pick up problems suffered by vulnerable adults and children.
It took enforcement in-house in June this year and its staff will also visit homes and business within a 10-mile radius outside the borough.
The previous year, seven debt agencies and charities, including Advice UK, the Children’s Society, Westminster-based anti-poverty charity Z2K and the Money Advice Trust called for new policies controlling the use of bailiffs.
The opposition group on the council has also called for changes.
These included making sure there were plans to spot vulnerable people and “protect them from enforcement” and clear procedures to suspend visits from bailiffs.
Councillor Mary Weale, who is in charge of finance, said: “Officers are trained to pick up the signs of poverty and difficulty and refer people to other agencies.”
And she told the council’s leadership team meeting officers will adopt a “softly-softly” approach and check for signs of mental health problems, which debt issues could make worse.
The council is also working with residents’ groups on preventative work to help stop people getting into financial difficulty.
David Lindsay, who has responsibility for families and children’s services, asked if they would distinguish between “can’t pay and won’t pay”.
Mark Stewart, the council’s head of enforcement and operations, said staff have training to “spot the signs”.
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