People Power! Manchester City Council has stopped using Bailiffs #BootTheBailiffs - Richard Dunbar
Channel: Debt Justice
Date: 2024-01-22

After a two year campaign by Debt Justice and Acorn the Union, Manchester City Council has stopped using Bailiffs to collect debt from people on council tax support. 

In the UK, 13 million people are in serious debt and struggling to pay the bills. That’s nearly the equivalent of the population of London, Manchester and Glasgow combined.

The use of bailiffs to collect debt is a cruel and outdated practice. It also makes no economic sense as the council’s own data suggests the bailiff companies only recover in the region of 10% of the total debt.  

But with a strong community behind you, it doesn’t have to be this way. Over the last few years Debt Justice has been building grassroots campaign groups through community organising, so that people with experience of debt can collectively oppose measures that might make their lives worse.  

We’ve done exactly this in Manchester. Along with our friends from Acorn the Union, we started a people powered campaign to ban the bailiffs. Last week, we had a significant victory as Manchester City Council agreed to never send enforcement agents to 48,000 households in receipt of council tax support.
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Debt Justice are part of a global movement to end unjust debt and the poverty and inequality it perpetuates. Only together can we build a fair economy that serves people and the planet.