Oldham Council and Citizens Advice to help those in debt

Oldham Council has teamed up with Citizen's Advice

Oldham Council has joined forces with Citizens Advice to do more to support people who are struggling with debt.

Cllr Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council, put pen to paper on the deal which will see the town hall adopt Citizens Advice’s Council Tax Protocol.

That means a number of new ways of helping people, including introducing a new key focus on doing more to let people know when they initially get into Council Tax debt. This can help stop residents reaching ‘crisis point’

Cllr Jabbar said: “We’re a compassionate and co-operative council and therefore, we feel this is a very important step.

“We recognise that many Oldham residents are feeling the financial strain and struggle to pay Council Tax. We need to support them by helping them to avoid letting debt mount up in the first place.

"Then, if people do get into debt, we need to do more to work with them to find a manageable solution. That’s essentially what this is all about.”

Jonathan Yates, chief executive at Citizens Advice Oldham, added: “Oldham adopting our council tax protocol is good news for people who fall behind on their council tax.

“This guidance could prevent them from facing even more serious problems such as court action.

“We’ve worked in partnership with Oldham Council to develop these principles around council tax collection which will help families who are struggling to make ends meet and to enable the council to recoup more of the tax they are owed.”

A nationwide study carried out by national Citizens Advice last year found that over two thirds (69%) of those in Council Tax debt found it harder to clear their debts as a result of actions taken by councils. Most (71%) had extra charges added to their bills while almost half (48%) had been visited by enforcement agents.

By doing more to prevent people getting into debt and by setting up realistic repayment plans, Citizens Advice say councils can ensure outstanding debts are more likely to be repaid.