BURY Council’s use of bailiffs to collect debts has plummeted over the past three years, it has been revealed.

Research carried out by the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, shows that in 2016/17 the council instructed bailiffs to collect debts from individuals and business on 5,329 occasions – a decrease of 56 per cent compared to 2014/15.

The charity’s new report, Stop The Knock 2017, found that council tax debts were passed to bailiffs by Bury Council on 3,526 occasions, while parking notices were passed on 1,478 times and business rates 325 times.

Council tax debts accounted for 66.1 per cent of all instructions to bailiffs, slightly higher than the national average of 60 per cent.

A spokesperson for Bury Council said: “Using bailiffs is a last resort and one we take only after all other methods of debt collection have been exhausted.”

Across England and Wales, the use of bailiffs, also known as enforcement agents, by local authorities has jumped by 14 per cent in two years, despite government guidance stating that they should only ever be used as a last resort.

More than 2.3 million debts were passed to bailiffs in 2016/17 according to the research, based on Freedom of Information requests.

However, the Money Advice Trust says that an increasing number of councils are working hard to improve their debt collection practices – and that 38 per cent of authorities have reduced their reliance on bailiffs.

The research also shows that Bury Council refers residents in financial difficulty to free debt advice.

However, 44 per cent of authorities, including Bury, have no formal policy for dealing with residents in vulnerable circumstances when collecting debts.

The Trust wants more councils to sign up to a formal policy on how to treat vulnerable residents, and to exempt the most vulnerable from bailiff action altogether.

But the Bury Council spokesman said: “We have introduced many ways for residents to make payments to us in a way that prevents recovery action being necessary. This ranges from taking weekly or fortnightly payments to making special arrangements and promoting the use of online and direct debit payments.

“We work very closely with the Citizens Advice Bureau – in fact there is a CAB officer “on site” who will see customers on a drop-in or appointment based system. We also work with debt advice agencies to reach repayment agreements, and widely publicise debt advice, not just to those in arrears, to help those in financial difficulty before arrears build up.

“All our staff have received guidance on dealing with vulnerability, and this is reinforced by our anti-poverty strategy which outlines how council and external staff are trained to identify early families who are struggling to manage their finances, and ensure they know about the help available.”

“In fact, our published council tax strategy specifically says that we will ensure that we take account of vulnerabilities and that recovery measures will be proportionate to a person’s circumstances.

“We would urge customers who are in financial difficulties to contact us as early as possible so that we can reach an acceptable solution.”

Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, said:

“The growing use of bailiffs to collect debts by many local authorities is deeply troubling. Councils are under enormous financial pressure, and they of course need to recover what they are owed in order to fund vital services.

“However, many councils are far too quick to turn to bailiff action – which we know can seriously harm the wellbeing of residents who are often already in vulnerable situations. It can also push people even further into debt.

“Bailiff action should only ever be used as a last resort, and can be avoided by early intervention.

“The good news is that many councils are working hard to improve – and indeed, nearly four in 10 are actually using bailiffs less than they were two years ago. They should be congratulated for showing that this can be done.”

Bury Council’s figure compares favourably to that of their Bolton and Rochdale counterparts, who called out bailiffs on 8,788 and 8,924 respectively, whereas Oldham Council called out bailiffs on 21,105 occasions.

National Debtline offers free debt advice at www.nationaldebtline.org.