Some 27,000 Bradford people who didn’t pay council tax before now have to as a result of welfare benefit changes.

In spite of economic austerity for some, failure to pay council tax on time or refusal to pay is likely to result in action by bailiffs, which has proved a cause for concern.

For example, the Money Advice Trust charity recently reported that local authorities had called in bailiffs on what they said was an “excessive” 1.8 million occasions in the past year.

Bradford Council came out 13th in a list of top 20 councils with a figure for referrals put at 24,673, mostly for residential. In contrast, the figure for Birmingham, which came top of the list, was 82,329.

While there will be a cost of employing bailiffs, the Department for Communities and Local Government is concerned that local authorities are actively benefiting financially from defaulting tax payers.

Secretary of State Eric Pickles MP made clear that turning a blind eye to bailiffs using heavy-handed tactics and charging excessive fees for ‘phantom’ visits damaged a local authority’s standing among the people it was supposed to serve.

“It is time to stop the dodgy practices where town halls collect contractual kickbacks from bailiffs that will do almost anything to make money,” he added.

The five biggest private bailiff companies were said to be making combined revenue of more than £60 million, which indicates that debt collecting is a profitable business. Bradford Council employs seven bailiffs of its own and, when needed, hires bailiffs from two private companies.

Earlier this month the Council declared that the authority had made £2.2 million from car parking charges and fines. How much did it make from fees charged to defaulting council tax payers in the last 12 months?

Nothing, according to both Martin Stubbs, the Council’s deputy director of revenues and benefits, and Councillor David Green, leader of Bradford Council.

Mr Stubbs said: “All bailiffs have the power to charge a fee for what they do, including ours. The income from this covers the cost of this element of the service so there’s no additional cost to people who do pay. The statutory charge is £24 for a first visit. There are significantly bigger charges for further visits.”

Councillor Green said: “We don’t top-slice off the profits of the private companies we use and never will as long as I am in charge.”

In June, Mr Pickles’s department issued an 11-page guidance on council tax collection and bailiffs which states that bill payers should receive at least three statutory communications before further action is taken: a reminder; a court summons, and notification that the liability order has been granted by magistrates and will be enacted through bailiffs if payment is not forthcoming.

Mr Stubbs said: “I am absolutely cast-iron certain that the three documents and a pre-bailiff letter all go out. We wouldn’t be able to go to the next stage unless the procedures had been followed.”

These proposals form the basis of new laws which come into effect from April next year. They include: l Stopping bailiffs entering homes when only children are present.

  • Banning bailiffs from visiting debtors at night – they will only be allowed to enter between 6am and 9pm.
  • Banning landlords from using bailiffs to seize property for residential rent arrears without going to court.
  • Preventing bailiffs from taking household items, such as a cooker, microwave, refrigerator or washing machine, because they are deemed to be reasonably required to satisfy the basic domestic needs of the debtor.
  • Ensuring a notice period of seven days is given to the debtor before bailiffs take control of the debtor’s goods.
  • Banning bailiffs from selling goods removed from a debtor, unless seven days have passed from the date the goods were removed.
  • Making bailiffs responsible for proving to a court that there are, or likely to be, goods of the debtor on the premises before being granted the power to use reasonable force to gain entry.

Before a warrant is granted, bailiffs must give the court information on the likely means of entry, the amount of force required and how the premises will be left in a secure state afterwards.

Last year, the Government updated the National Standards for Enforcement Agents and guidance for people in debt on Gov.uk which served as a reminder to bailiffs and creditors of their responsibilities.