Council tax reform is 'desperately needed' to help keep bailiffs from the door

LEADERS BACK READER'S CALL FOR CHANGE TO 'REGRESSIVE' BAND SYSTEM WHERE £8M WENT UNPAID ACROSS THE CITY

- By NIGEL SLATER [e-mail]

MAJOR changes to the council tax system are said to be “desperately needed” after it was revealed bailiffs had been called to thousands of city homes to recover up to £8 million in debt.

Leading Derby councillors from all parties have called for change and blasted the current system for setting council tax bands for properties as “outdated” and “unfair” on those living in the city’s cheapest homes.

The Government has ruled out plans to reform the system, however it is “exploring options to improve the way it (council tax) is collected and enforced”.

The Derby Telegraph recently reported a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed bailiffs have recovered millions of pounds in council tax debt from thousands of Derby households in recent years.

Derby City Council insisted calling in bailiffs was a “last resort” but defended their use, saying “it is more important than ever to ensure the council is properly stewarding its limited finances”.

But some say the situation highlights a wider point about the current council tax system and the urgent need for it to be changed by the Government.

One reader commented: "Of course all local authorities have a duty to collect council tax owed as far as possible. It's the council tax system itself that's primarily at fault with the bands set on valuations from April 1991.

"Hence you have people in some of the most expensive areas of the country paying less than someone in the poorest areas. It's so regressive."