Date: 03rd April 2009
Summary
Council tax recovery action against vulnerable woman with no income - Local Government Ombudsman
Detail
Slough Borough Council’s council tax department failed to suspend bailiff action against a woman when it was advised that she was totally dependent on its own social services.
Slough Borough Council’s council tax department failed to suspend bailiff action against a woman when it was advised that she was totally dependent on its own social services, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Tony Redmond. In his report, issued today (3 April 2009) he says “…it is disappointing that, whilst the Council has provided excellent support via its social services department, it also allowed a vulnerable person to be pursued by bailiffs for a debt that she had no means to pay.”
‘Mrs Carter’ (not her real name for legal reasons) entered the UK as a student in 2002. She failed to submit student exemption certificates to the council tax department, so she built up council tax arrears.
In 2006 Mrs Carter became seriously ill; she was unable to study and her immigration status prevented her from working or claiming benefits. After some time in hospital being treated for cancer, she became reliant on the Council’s social services department, who provided accommodation, a subsistence allowance, and helped her to apply for permission to stay in the UK. Mrs Carter remains unwell and continues to be totally reliant on support from social services; she has no income or belongings other than that they provide.
In April 2008 her social worker gave the council tax department evidence of Mrs Carter’s situation. But the department failed to consider the evidence or to pass her case to the council tax welfare team. Instead it instructed bailiffs to collect the council tax arrears, even though it had evidence that she was vulnerable, had no income, and was being supported by a different Council department. If the department had acted on the information provided then it is unlikely that bailiffs would have been involved and the associated distress would have been avoided. Mrs Carter said she was so scared by the bailiff’s actions that she spent the day hiding in the park.
The Ombudsman found that the Council was at fault for failing to consider the information provided by the social worker and for failing to pass Mrs Carter’s case to the welfare team. He also criticised the Council for the lack of effective liaison between different departments of the same Council and for failing to have a written policy on dealing with vulnerable people.
The Ombudsman recommended that the Council should:
Download
http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2009/apr/council-tax-recovery-action-against-vulnerable-woman-no-income/ (HTML format)
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