Coalition court threat to the poorest

While the poorest are put through the mincing machine of council tax arrears, the Tories want to keep tax loopholes for the wealthy.

Three million of the poorest people in England have been taken to court for council tax arrears since the ConDem coalition ended council tax benefit in 2013. Half a million people have faced court action, fines and even jail and bankruptcy in the last year alone.

 
The new figures were made public by campaign group False Economy based on Freedom of Information Act replies.

 
A national system was axed and replaced with a new system of council tax assistance handed to 326 local authorities with a budget cut of ÂŁ500 million. Around 2.3 million unemployed, disabled and low paid were faced with having to pay council tax for the first time or at a greatly increased rate.

 
And new research by the New Policy Institute, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found the poorest households were the hardest hit. While 163 councils have frozen council tax for all households since 2013, 136 of those increased charges for the worst off by ÂŁ145 in 2013/14.

 
This year will see around 870,000 of the poorest paying an average £160 more council tax this year, according to projections by the New Policy Institute. This is based on the typical ‘minimum payments’ being demanded by councils which can vary from 5% to 30% of a council tax bill.

 
The figures undermine Tory claims that the council tax freeze has helped the worst off. In fact, it has made them even worse off because other benefits have been frozen, pay has been stagnant while having to pay council tax for the first time.

 
The biggest rise in arrears action has been in those areas where councils are demanding the highest minimum payments. Those facing action also face demand for court fees and bailiff fees.

 
Alarm bells were sounded by Citizen’s Advice Bureau in September last year with most council tax debt inquiries being made by the working poor. It released figures which showed that since the funding change in 2013, council tax arrears had become the most sought after debt advice at their offices.

 
The CAB said at the time: “The numbers of people struggling with council tax payments has rocketed since council tax benefit was replaced by localised council tax support schemes. Between January and March 2014, 42 per cent of those approaching Citizens Advice for help with arrears were employed, compared to 28 per cent unemployed.”

 
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “The Tory led coalition has waged a sustained attack on the lowest paid and most vulnerable in society. As personal debt has rocketed, it’s no surprise to find council tax arrears have rocketed with it, with millions of people getting court summonses and threatened with bailiffs seizing property, fines and even jail.

 
“It’s another way of throwing the most vulnerable people to foodbanks and pay-day loan sharks profiting from the misery of poverty. These are often the same people hit by the bedroom tax.

 
“These are honest people, decent men and women struggling to make ends meet, not those trying to cheat the system and exploit loopholes to avoid paying their fair share. How they are treated is in sharp contrast to those wealthy tax avoiders who can’t escape to the nearest tax haven with their growing wealth fast enough.

 
“The coalition attack on the poorest and most vulnerable is vicious and sickening. The same week we see this, the Tories are defending centuries old loopholes that benefit jet-setting tax avoiding non-doms.

 
“It’s important that people remember the impact of council tax rises on the poorest in a climate of ideological cuts and with billions more to come. Contrast it with the relentless bleating by those most able to afford more in the debate on the Mansion Tax on houses worth over £2 million.”