Hebden Bridge News

Is Calderdale Council Cashing In On The Recession?

Thousands of Calderdale’s lower income residents may well be forced into paying more than their fair share toward Council tax, since Calderdale Council is allegedly exploiting the government’s council tax legislation to generate further income through massively inflated court summons fees and court costs.

Everyone recognises the importance of Council Tax, and how this money is used to fund the essential public services we all use, however little is known about how many councils are potentially abusing the council tax legislation to increase revenue, and profiteering from the those in financial hardship. Increasingly, the additional court costs imposed by councils and their ‘zero tolerance’ policy toward payment delays, are being seen as a ‘stealth tax’ on recession victims and those in society who are least able to pay.

“This is very clearly a tax on the poor. For Calderdale Council to act in this manner when other opportunities exist for resolving payment delays, is quite frankly immoral in the current economic climate.”

According to a report in The Independent earlier this year, the Ministry of Justice expects around £38m of court fees to be generated from debtors in 2009, while statistics gathered from local branches of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) show the number of people contacting the charity for debt advice has rocketed across the country.

Commenting on that report Dominic Grieve, the shadow Justice Secretary said” “It is bad enough that ministers should address their own budget problems by fleecing people struggling with indebtedness but to do so in the depths of a recession takes a special kind of cynicism”.

Closer to home, and responding to a question about whether these court fees could be considered a tax on the poor, Gill Skelton of Calderdale’s Council Tax department said only that: “if you have a specific complaint regarding a service, then you should put your grievance in writing to the relevant Council Service.”

Currently, the total court cost associated with a typical Council Tax Liability Order in Calderdale stands at £91.00. By contrast, in neighbouring Bradford, these costs are quite considerably less at £75.00. When asked about the enormous disparity in court costs and why they could increase so dramatically in the 10 miles between Bradford and Halifax, Ms. Skelton could offer no explanation, stating that costs were “fixed at a level that covers both the Council’s and the Magistrates expenses.”

With council expenses surely ranging from anything between covering the cost of independent inquiries into questionable procurement processes, through to councillor’s salaries and benefits, this explanation is hardly reassuring or particularly convincing.

Having heard from many Calderdale residents about how keen CMBC are to take legal action for late payment of Council Tax, it is clear that a great many are unimpressed by how aggressively the council imposes the current legislation, and the high costs associated with court action.

One local resident said that; “This is very clearly a tax on the poor. For Calderdale Council to act in this manner when other opportunities exist for resolving payment delays, is quite frankly immoral in the current economic climate.”

See also: Fraud Inquiries At Calderdale Council