Victory for community action

Unite community member Paul Rooney, a Bromley resident and full-time carer of his severely disabled daughter, has been granted a stay of eviction today (August 7) after being mistakenly served with a ÂŁ2,000 council tax bill from more than a decade ago.

The stay of eviction comes in the wake of concerted campaigning from Unite community and industrial members, dozens of whom stood outside Rooney’s home last month as bailiffs descended to evict a man who had become the victim of his council’s privatise-at-all-costs regime.

As UNITElive has reported, Rooney’s bogus council tax bill ballooned to £51,000 after Liberata, the private company running council tax collection for Bromley council, tacked on £49,000 in fees to his original bill.

After debt collection proceedings, Rooney was declared bankrupt last year.

Although Bromley council and Liberata continue to make the case that the bill is legitimate, Liberata and other similar outsourcing firms on local authority contracts have a long history of failure in running council services.

Rooney, who has lived in his same home in Bromley since 1990, fears that if evicted, his daughter Roisin, who suffers from a rare chromosome disorder and cannot talk, will no longer be able to visit – the bulky equipment used to care for her will not be able to fit in a homeless hostel.

He argues that the eviction will only end up costing the taxpayer more money after he’s declared homeless and rehoused by the council.

Rooney is set to be back in court in February of next year.

Unite Community co-ordinator Pilgrim Tucker was optimistic about today’s court decision.

“Today’s outcome is a victory for Paul and a victory for community action,” she said. “We’re not out of the woods just yet, but that Paul has been granted a stay of eviction means we have more time to continue to support him as we wage this battle together against a heartless council that’s put private profit over community welfare.”

“We are showing, yet again, that people power, if mobilised, can successfully take on vested interests.”

Stay tuned as on UNITElive as Paul’s story unfolds.

Those interested in donating to Paul’s legal fund may contact Alan Shaw at Bromleytradescouncil@gmail.com