Bailiffs are increasingly being asked to recover unpaid council tax debts in Buckinghamshire even as families continue to struggle through the cost of living crisis, new data has shown.

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 Bucks Free Press under freedom of information laws.

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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 Free Press: “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 Free Press: “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.”

Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for accessible housing and resources John Chilver said: “Council tax pays for a range of essential services for the local community and as a local authority, we have a legal duty to collect it.

“Delays in collection or non-recovery of debts leads to high administrative costs and results in lower resources available for vital council services.”

The cabinet member stressed residents had a legal duty to pay council and the council was obliged to recover council tax through 'usual and legal debt collection methods'.

He also said 98.5 per cent of council tax was collected in the 2023/24 financial, meaning it was 'rare' for non-payment cases to go beyond the issuing of a reminder.

Cllr Chilver added: “But where cases continue not to be paid, we will issue a final notice and take people to court to obtain a liability order. If payment is still withheld as a last resort we will instruct enforcement agents.”

The cabinet member said Bucks had higher numbers of cases as it had a higher number of tax-payers than many other councils and claimed the increase in the use of enforcement agents was 'ultimately driven by a higher number of residents delaying payment'.

he said anyone worried about paying their council tax should contact the council for advice and support such as spreading the cost of payment over 12 months instead of 10.

Both Newlyn PLC and Chandlers Ltd declined to comment for this story.