Poll Tax arrears persist in haunting Scots, says Citizens Advice

PRESS RELEASE

Many Scots are finding it impossible to prove they have paid - or never owed – Poll Tax charges that councils insist are still due, claims Citizens Advice Scotland.

CAS, the umbrella body for Scotland’s Citizens Advice Bureau service, says that with some charges still in dispute up to 18 years later, the system must be urgently reviewed.

The Poll Tax, or Community Charge, was introduced into Scotland in April 1989, and in England and Wales a year later.  It was replaced by the Council Tax in 1993.

CAS is calling for the Scottish Government to review the time-span during which arrears can be pursued.  Meanwhile, it wants councils to consider writing off very old Poll Tax debts.  CAS points to the law in England and Wales which now makes court action to collect arrears effectively unenforcable.

In a briefing sent to MSPs today, CAS highlights that only the Scottish collection system allows for arrears to still be collected almost 20 years later.  Poll Tax arrears in England and Wales were pursued through the court system, resulting in a six-year limit within which to collect debts, meaning they are now effectively defunct south of the border.

But in Scotland councils can apply for a summary warrant to collect outstanding debts up to 20 years after the amount has become due - and then have a further 20 years to collect.

While Scottish local authorities have the power to write off community charge arrears in certain circumstances, this is rare in practice and as of last year £435m was still outstanding, with around £3m being collected annually.

“One in four Citizens Advice Bureau clients in Scotland still has an outstanding council tax or community charge debt,” said CAS chief executive Kaliani Lyle.

“But many other people are unable to prove that they have paid charges over a decade ago.  Those in receipt of benefits at the time also struggle to access records kept by the then Department for Social Security for this period.

“One bureau client, told she owed £112 in community charge arrears from 1990/91, insists these sums had been paid through her wages.  However, her employer no longer has salary-records going back this far, and the local authority can’t confirm this.  Another woman, told she owes over £850, says she was in receipt of benefits and not liable for the full amount.  She can’t, however, secure evidence of her benefit status for that period.”

CAS says that people are also being held liable for someone else’s old debt due to the rules on ‘joint and several liability’.  Under this, couples were liable for each other’s personal community charge while they lived together.  If one partner did not pay, then the other could be held responsible.

Unlike consumer debts, which have a five-year lifespan, once Scottish councils have had a summary warrant issued they can pursue debt recovery methods with little warning, such as freezing people’s bank accounts pending payment of the debt.

One bureau client found her bank account frozen on a Friday due to non-payment of her husband’s community charge from the early 1990s, leaving her with no money over the weekend.  Another client received a notice of bank arrestment for arrears going back to 1991/92.  She insisted this was the first she had heard about this in almost 16 years.

A couple in their eighties had £100 taken from their bank account for community charge due between 1989-93, and the council has warned another £600 will be taken shortly.  The couple are adamant they have paid all of their community charge but no longer have any proof such as bank statements or receipts.

“We are calling for the system in Scotland to be brought in line with that in England and Wales,” said Ms Lyle. “How many people actually have personal financial records going back to the early 1990s?

“After almost 20 years, it’s time to finally bring the curtain down on the Poll Tax.”

Notes for News Editors

1. Each CAB is an independent charity, run by a committee of local people, and responsible for raising its own funding.
2. Around 80 per cent of CAB workers are trained volunteers – if you’d like to help your local community for just a few hours each week, contact your local bureau manager, or volunteer through the CAS website – www.cas.org.uk
3. The first bureaux in Scotland were established in 1939 as a wartime information service.  There are now 76 CAB offices across Scotland, which operate from over 200 service points, and which form the country’s largest independent advice network.
4. CAB advice services aim to be freely available and accessible to everyone in the community.
5. Consumer debt is now the single biggest issue that CABx deal with.  Last year, CABx in Scotland dealt with debt totalling over £211m.
6. Practical and up-to-date information is available online from Adviceguide (www.adviceguide.org.uk), including factsheets you can print off.