Anti-bailiff protests hit councils across England and Wales

Anti-bailiff protests by community union ACORN have thrown council meetings across England and Wales into chaos.

The union has held protests at 20 council meetings across England and Wales over the last month. Members have called on councils to cut their use of bailiffs to collect council tax debt from residents. Council tax debt has soared to £7bn as people are slammed by the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Protests have taken place in Sheffield, Southwark, Preston, Oxford, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bradford and Norwich. There are more to come in the coming days.

Harrowing experiences of bailiffs coming to people’s homes.

ACORN members in the public galleries have recounted their harrowing experiences of bailiffs coming to their homes. As a result, councils have delayed or abandoned meetings.

In Bristol, ACORN members occupied the council chambers before a meeting was due to take place. They held a ‘People’s Council Meeting’ in its place. And they wouldn’t leave until they’d secured an agreement to meet to discuss the campaign demands.

In Birmingham, council security tried to snatch speeches out of protesters’ hands in a bid to stop them speaking. They then attempted to remove them with force.

In Bradford police were called, while in Norwich a council meeting was abandoned and all doors to the City Hall were locked when councillors heard that ACORN members had assembled nearby.

Brighton councillors refused to listen to members’ stories and walked out of the chambers. But there was no escape from protestors’ chants, which echoed throughout the whole building.

Bailiff Free Britain

The actions have formed part of ACORN’s ‘Bailiff Free Britain’ campaign. They’ve been calling on councils to drop their use of private bailiff firms that rely on aggressive tactics, piling additional fees onto already struggling households and trapping people in debt spirals.

In their place they are calling for a fairer system. One based on early intervention, support and affordable repayment plans for struggling residents.

They have also been asking councils to support their calls on the Government to end imprisonment for council tax debt.

And they want to end the postcode lottery dictating how councils treat people struggling to pay, by bringing in a standard, nationwide protocol.

Furthermore, they want to see the council tax system reformed and replaced it with a proportional property tax, a fairer system of local government revenue creation.

Chelsea Phillips, ACORN Chair, said:

Over the past month, ACORN has taken our Bailiff Free Britain campaign to 20 councils across England and Wales.

We are demanding an end to the cruel use of bailiffs against our communities when people are at their most vulnerable.

Council tax debt is rising, with nearly £7billion people in England and Wales falling behind on their payments as the cost of living crisis rumbles on.

Councils exist to serve and protect people, and it is a disgrace that thugs are sent to people’s homes on the council’s behalf.

But bailiffs are part of the problem, not the solution. Private bailiff firms are making a killing – literally in some cases – as struggling residents are hounded and harassed. This hurts people, it harms our communities, and in the long run it costs our councils.

That’s why we’re calling for councils to replace them with early intervention and support for people falling behind, for reform of the unfair and ineffective council tax system, and for dignity, not debt for our families and our communities.

Join us in demanding that every council across England and Wales ends the use of bailiffs. Become a member and stand with your neighbours to protect our communities from intimidation and harm.

Featured image via Acorn