Hyndburn Council doing the RIGHT thing

[seanamarts]

Wow a council with a heart and doing what ALL councils should be doing..

Congratulations Hyndburn Council, lets hope all councils will 'do the right thing'

Bailiffs to be hit with tight controls in Hyndburn (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Edited July 17, 2010 by seanamarts
got over excited and mispelt

[seanamarts]

And another council, is the public finally being heard?

PLANS to crack down on heavy-handed bailiffs are being supported by Tewkesbury Borough Council.

[kiptower]

maybe the CAG'ers should email the first one to their COUNCILS CEO asking when he/she is going to put the same in place

 

mines done , hopefully may help

[seanamarts]

maybe the CAG'ers should email the first one to their COUNCILS CEO asking when he/she is going to put the same in place

 

mines done , hopefully may help

An excellent idea Kip, will get one done sent to my council see what occurs

[kiptower]

just sent the site team a message , see if we can get this highlighted a bit

 

Kip

[seanamarts]

Be interesting to see how many councils are doing this now..

May be we should get a template letter sorted and who ever wants to send it to their council can.

[steven4064]

What about something along the lines of

[your address]

 

[name of CEO]

[your council address]

 

[date]

 

Dear MrMrs/Ms…..

 

Code of Practice for Bailiffs

 

You may have read in the press that the council in Hyndburn, Lancashire have introduced a new code of conduct for bailiffs operating on their behalf to recover council tax arrears, etc, to protect the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

 

This follows the case of 78-year-old Andy Miller, who suffered a heart attack in Accrington town centre last January after a Blackpool-appointed bailiff drove him to a cashpoint over an unpaid speeding fine.

 

The code of conduct bans bailiffs from approaching:

 

- Households in which there has been a death within two weeks.

 

- A mum-to-be in the last two months of pregnancy.

 

- A single parent of children under the age of 12 who receives means-tested benefit.

 

- Residents living on Income Support, Job Seeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit Guarantee or Employment Support Allowance.

 

- Households where English is not spoken, read or understood.

 

- A severely disabled person or someone suffering with a mental illness.

 

- Any person over the age of 75.

 

- An elderly person under 75 who is frail, confused or ill or having difficulty in dealing with their affairs.

 

Other councils around the country are following suit. This letter is to ask you to consider developing a similar code of conduct for bailiffs operating on behalf of [name of town, etc] council.

 

Your sincerely

 

 

[you]

[seanamarts]

Nicely done Steven.. short and to the point..

[josephbloggs]

councils have access to nearly all of the info you have highlighted in your draft letter (benefits etc) but doesnt make difference, they still issue the liability orders and parking fines out dont they. (at present)

did you know apparently there are a few types of benefits exempt from attachment, i wonder how local authorities would be able to recover money then?

i dont agree with some of the underhand tactics utilized by certain individuals within the industry however if this comes into fruition throughout the country, you will get the people falling into the jsa/benefit category thinking -

"well im on benefits and there is a bill outstanding so if i dont pay the council or make any attempt to get a job and they wont send bailiffs out im sitting pretty knowing full well i will never have to pay more than £3 a week from money i get from those who work"

and, although this is personal opinion but - i have no respect for people coming into england and not trying to learn the language and law purpously so they can play the "race" card every opportunity they can. and they probably can speak english but act dumb.

[letsmakeamark]

councils have access to nearly all of the info you have highlighted in your draft letter (benefits etc) but doesnt make difference, they still issue the liability orders and parking fines out don't they. (at present)

did you know apparently there are a few types of benefits exempt from attachment, i wonder how local authorities would be able to recover money then?

i don't agree with some of the underhand tactics utilized by certain individuals within the industry however if this comes into fruition throughout the country, you will get the people falling into the jsa/benefit category thinking -

"well im on benefits and there is a bill outstanding so if i don't pay the council or make any attempt to get a job and they wont send bailiffs out im sitting pretty knowing full well i will never have to pay more than £3 a week from money i get from those who work"

and, although this is personal opinion but - i have no respect for people coming into England and not trying to learn the language and law purposely so they can play the "race" card every opportunity they can. and they probably can speak English but act dumb.

 

 

Agree with you on that one. There are people who are pregnant and go to the USA solely for playing their nationality rules. They mainly origin from the Caribbean.

[RaeUK]

And don't forget to mention that they should have been doing this as a matter of course since May 2002. Had they followed up on the commitments they made to the National Standards then they wouldn't have to be wasting taxpayers money now by holding meetings to discuss a matter on which solutions were agreed over eight years ago ...

Best wishes

Rae

[Dodgy Geezer]

Evolution takes time.

 

Time changes the course of evolution.

 

Even the councils have to listen now you good people are fighting back.