ePetition details

In 2024-25, Cambridge City Council made more than 1000 referrals to bailiffs for recovery of Council Tax arrears. Recovery action by bailiffs, particularly in the ‘enforcement’ stage, can be intimidating, stressful and traumatising. To top it all off, the cost of bailiffs’ fees gets added to people’s debt, leaving them hundreds of pounds worse off than they already were before.

While the council does have a duty to collect Council Tax, many of the households being targeted by bailiffs simply do not have the money that the council is asking them for.

This is especially true for households receiving Council Tax Support (also called Council Tax Reduction). As Council Tax Support is a means-tested benefit, the reason these households are receiving it in the first place is because the council recognises they are in difficult economic circumstances and have very limited financial means. They are not hoarding wealth; they fall into arrears because they genuinely cannot pay. For this reason, numerous charities and think tanks, including the Centre for Social Justice, Money Advice Trust, and StepChange, recommend exempting such households from bailiff action, which only deepens debt and worsens stress.

Several councils across the country, including Haringey, Islington and Manchester, already protect Council Tax Support recipients from enforcement action by bailiffs. It is time for Cambridge City Council to follow suit and make it an official policy not to use bailiffs against households in receipt of Council Tax Support.

This ePetition runs from 17/11/2025 to 16/03/2026.

2 people have signed this ePetition.