Members of Acorn Haringey presented a deputation on Thursday (March 27) urging the council to end its use of private bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax.
Sian Bradley, an Acorn campaigner, accused the agency of being “aggressive and intimidating” and said the poorest and most deprived areas such as “Tottenham Central and Northumberland Park” were “four times more likely to have a bailiff knocking” than people in more affluent wards.
The campaigner also said the council was “failing its ethical debt policy” and criticised its communication with Acorn which has been campaigning to “boot the bailiffs” for several years.
Cabinet member for resident services and tackling inequality Cllr Seema Chandwani referred to her own past growing up and having bailiffs visit her family’s home, describing it as a “traumatic experience”.
She said: “The whole basis behind this is, let’s do a little bit more to see if we can connect with people before we have to go there. It starts with having a council tax reduction scheme (CTRS) that makes sure if you can’t pay you don’t have to pay.
“For 25,000 people in this borough they either are getting a substantial discount or over 16,000 people are not paying at all, so that takes them out of risk.”
She added: “If we don’t collect it we can’t provide services for vulnerable people and it’s about getting that balance. It’s about saying to people we might not have caught you in the CTRS net or you’re not known to adult social care, but if you feel you’re vulnerable, come to us.”
On bailiffs being more common in poorer wards, she said there was a “density and volume of people in certain areas versus places like Alexandra ward and Forest Green”.
Cllr Chandwani said most of the residents on the CTRS scheme resided in the east of the borough, which is less affluent and where most of the enforcement action was being recorded.
She added areas that had more visits likely had greater numbers of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) and flats.
Committee member Cllr Lester Buxton asked officers to clarify what happened when bailiffs turned up at residents’ doors and what safeguards were in place.
Andrew Mackie, a council officer, said: “They abide by sets of standards as well as our own specifications, they are contracted to abide by those standards and return cases to us.”
He added: “The enforcement agent company has their own complaints process so the enforcement conduct board is a separate body set up to deal with complaints and should be available on the paperwork given to residents.”
Cllr Chandwani added the team would make sure this information was “really clear” so residents “at least know how to complain” and felt “comfortable” to do it. She also added wait times to get through the council’s financial support team helpline could be improved.
