Bailiffs were used by Medway Council twice as much to collect unpaid parking fines in the past two years but more than £1 million remains outstanding, it's been revealed.

The Money Advice Trust says bailiffs should only be called in as a last resort and is urging the government to implement a national strategy to reduce their use across England and Wales.

Freedom of Information requests by the trust, which operates the National Debtline, show Medway Council sent 14,451 parking debts to bailiffs in 2018-19.

That’s almost twice as many as in 2016-17, when 7,838 referrals were made.

Bailiffs, also known as enforcement agents, visit properties to remove and sell goods for the repayment of certain debts, including council tax arrears, parking notices and others owed to the council.

The trust’s Stop the Knock 2019 report revealed a 7% increase in bailiff use across England and Wales over the last two years, with 2.6 million cases in 2018-19 – driven by a 21% rise in the number of parking debts referred.

Joanna Elson, chief executive of the charity, said: “Bailiff action is harmful to people in debt, and these findings should concern us all.

‘These findings should concern us all. Bailiff action should only ever be used as a last resort...’ Joanna Elson, Money Advice Trust

“Bailiff action should only ever be used as a last resort, and can be avoided by early intervention, providing free debt advice, and agreeing affordable repayment arrangements.

The Money Advice Trust’s research also looked at how local authorities manage debt collection, and found 99% of councils, including Medway, point residents in financial difficulty in the direction of free debt advice.

The charity also advises local authorities to have official strategies to support people from at-risk or low-income groups who are in debt - and Medway Council does have a formal policy in place for vulnerable residents.

Further debt collection practices mentioned in the report include exempting recipients of council tax support from bailiff action, and signing the Citizens’ Advice Council tax protocol, which aims to prevent people from getting into debt.

But in Medway, council tax support recipients are not exempted from bailiff action, and the council has not signed up to the protocol.

The Local Government Association argued that councils “have a duty to their residents” to collect unpaid debts, but said it was working with Citizens Advice to develop fairer recovery and enforcement policies, including exemptions for vulnerable families.

It is understood Medway Council issued more parking charge notices (PCNs) in 2018-19 compared to the year before, which may have led to an increased number of cases being passed to enforcement agents, which it does not pay.

At the start of the financial year 2018-19 around £1,190,900 was outstanding and £148,802 was recovered of the outstanding fines.

'We do consider payment plan arrangements, depending on the individual’s circumstances,' Ruth Du Lieu, Medway Council

Assistant director of frontline services at Medway Council, Ruth Du Lieu, said: “Our civil enforcement officers patrol across Medway and issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) to any vehicles found to be parking illegally.

"When someone receives a PCN they have three opportunities to appeal against the ticket.

"If the appeals are unsuccessful and they still do not pay we send a number of reminders to the registered keeper of the vehicle advising them the ticket is outstanding and what the next steps are.

"If a penalty charge notice is still not paid, the matter is referred to our bailiffs who will pursue any outstanding debts owed to the council.

“We understand that people facing financial difficulties may not be able to pay the full amount immediately and we do consider payment plan arrangements, depending on the individual’s circumstances.””

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