Bailiff turns up at council to collect payment

A bailiff turned up at council offices seeking money owed to a resident, a meeting has heard.

Enforcement agents are often used by local authorities in seeking unpaid council tax after reminders are ignored.

But roles were reversed in November when a bailiff visited Forest of Dean District Council's offices in Coleford, Gloucestershire, seeking to obtain debt owed to a resident following a planning dispute.

The matter only came to light at a full council meeting on 11 December, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said, when councillor Bernie O'Neill highlighted the "shocking situation".

He asked the council leader to confirm that bailiffs had arrived at its offices and urged the case - involving one of the 93 planning and enforcement appeals the authority has lost over the last seven years - to be rectified.

Council leader Adrian Birch confirmed in a written answer that a bailiff had come to the council offices and left after speaking with officers in the legal services department.

"The agent took no action against the council," Mr Birch confirmed, adding that there had been 318 appeals against decisions to refuse planning permission or to issue enforcement notices in the Forest of Dean over the last seven years.

A total of 93 went against the council, meaning the appellant won their case, and a total of 13 cases saw costs awarded to the appellants.

Mr Birch added that seven of the claims submitted remained unpaid as the council had not accepted the amount of costs claimed.

"The point that the council should take payment of its debts at least as seriously as residents take paying their council tax is a valid one," he said.

But, he added, the council owes "a duty to those same council taxpayers to question claims" where requests for payment are submitted without the right evidence.

But Mr O'Neill said he had evidence to the contrary, suggesting an emergency investigation should be set up to looking into costs affecting the planning department.

Monitoring officer Helen Clarke said she had drafted the response to Mr O'Neill after looking at the council's statistics.

"I'm satisfied that it is truthful and I'm also satisfied, having personal knowledge of the cases, that the answer is accurate," she said.

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