Debt Talk: Prison & Council Tax

Описание: Imprisonment is an option for many councils to enforce as a last resort if residents are wilfully refusing or are culpably neglectful to pay council tax in England. This month on the Debt Talk podcast Ripon Ray explores the ‘Prison & Council Tax’.

He invited Chris Daw QC and Russell Hamblin-Boone to join him to find out whether it is fair and cost-effective to prison communities for non-payment of council tax.

Chris Daw KC, a criminal law expert, explained the history of debtors' prisons in the UK and how they were used against impoverished communities. He emphasised how Margaret Thatcher’s government introduced imprisonment as an option based on politically driven ideology and how this policy could be changed just by removing imprisonment from the legislation. He highlighted how costly it is to put someone in prison.

Russell Hamblin-Boone outlined the changes in the enforcement industry and how has it adapted to meet the needs of the council and to identify financial and other vulnerabilities. He emphasised the importance of partnership with private enforcement agent companies to recover council tax as an alternative to imprisonment as opposed to central government debts.

My panellists have also provided top tips to Debt Talk listeners in order to move forward both on a national issue and on the issue of private enforcement agents.

The Debt Talk podcast is on the: ‘Insecurities of being Self-Employed’