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Fury as 'Brutal Warrant Sales Brought Back

ONE of the first Scottish councils to abolish warrant sales has sparked fury by reintroducing the controversial policy. Council chiefs in one of Scotland's poorest areas have re-employed sheriff officers to collect unpaid council tax - four years after scrapping the practice. Politicians and opposition councillors condemned the move by West Dunbartonshire Council, saying poverty-stricken families would be targeted. It means sheriff officers can force their way into debtors' homes to value and sell off property.

Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan, who launched the campaign to abolish the "draconian" practice in 1999, attacked council chiefs. He said: "They are humiliating rather than helping the poor, and the sheriff officers are their paid humiliators."

Mr Sheridan introduced a Private Member's Bill in December 2000 to abolish warrant sales, which was backed by MSPs. A group was created to establish a replacement for the scheme and The Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act came into force earlier this year. However, warrant sales will still be allowed in the most extreme cases.

Mr Sheridan added: "New Labour is back in control in West Dunbartonshire and introducing old Tory methods to claim council tax arrears. "It's sad West Dunbartonshire Council is returning to the old methods of debt collection."

In a gesture of support for Mr Sheridan, West Dunbartonshire was one of the first councils to change its debt recovery methods in 1999. Instead, it funded debt support agencies and employed council workers to chase up arrears. But SSP councillor Jim Bollan, who voted against the proposals, warned the poor would still suffer. He said: "West Dunbartonshire has one of the highest levels of poverty in Scotland and the second highest unemployment level. "Its child mortality rates are among the highest in Britain. "But the council has insisted on using brutal and draconian methods to punish the poor. "Under the old system the evidence was that people on benefits were getting targeted. "There's a lot of people on partial benefits and low incomes and they are not people who can pay their tax - they are on the edge of poverty." But council leaders have voted to reintroduce the old system to target those who "can pay but won't pay".

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We have taken the decision to target residents who can afford to pay, but who deliberately don't pay their council tax. "People on benefits will not be affected by this new ruling." Glasgow Evening Times

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Friday, July 04, 2003