Shadow local government secretary, Hilary Benn, has criticised local authorities that use bailiffs to collect money after cuts to council tax benefit.
Up to 70,000 low earners, single parents and disabled people are being pursued by bailiffs over their failure to pay council tax, according to new figures revealed by Freedom of Information Act requests.
Mr Benn said: ‘When it was clear that Lib Dems and Tories in both the Commons and Lords were backing this tax rise on the poorest, we tried to ensure that bailiffs would not chase very vulnerable people – some of whom are housebound and thus acutely vulnerable to bully-boy tactics.
‘This amendment was rejected by the Liberals and Tories.
‘Many people have found themselves getting into debt trying to pay this new tax while others have simply found it very difficult to pay.
‘Of course, people who can pay should be forced to do so, but, where someone is in real difficulty, and especially where they are vulnerable, councils should not be sending in the bailiffs instead of using other means.’
