Council bankruptcy proceedings, last resort argues WLGA
07 January 2009
In response to “The Times” story based on Liberal Democrat research showing an increase in bankruptcy proceedings by councils, Steve Thomas, WLGA Chief Executive said:
"Councils only begin legal proceedings on individuals who do not pay their council tax as a last resort. Indeed, the Welsh average council tax collection rate for 2007-08 was 96.6% and of those people who failed to meet their council tax payments only a very small percentage of them actually received a court summons. Furthermore, according to LGA published figures only 1% of people who are summoned actually end up in a court hearing.”
“There are a number of stages that happen following non-payment prior to a council applying for a liability order. These are set out in legislation and regulations. During the many stages leading up to a liability order being issued, councils offer support to individuals in financial difficulty. For example, information is provided about making other arrangements for payment and how to apply for council tax benefit. Also if part payment is made then the process is halted until another payment is missed. Effectively people are given every opportunity to pay or make other more manageable payment arrangements before councils apply for a liability order.”
“Councils fully empathise with the financial pressures that people are facing and are actively encouraging people, particularly those who are struggling to make their council tax payments to seek information on any council tax benefits they may be entitled to before they get to an unmanageable level of arrears. Millions of pounds of this benefit go unclaimed every year and it is vital that people receive their proper entitlement.”
“However, councils send out millions of council tax bills a year and have a duty to all taxpayers in their area to ensure that those who should pay taxes do. It is ironic that only a few weeks ago Welsh councils were bring criticised for their council tax collections rates not being high enough. It seems that, in terms of being fair on council tax collection, councils are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.”
Ends