Fears over bailiffs hired by Kirklees

A FIRM that Kirklees Council uses to collect its debts has come under fire after a member of its staff was caught on camera being aggressive towards debtors.

Rossendales, which has been working for Kirklees for six years, was featured in a documentary about bailiffs that aired on Monday night.

In the film, which was part of ITV’s Exposure series, an undercover reporter posed as a trainee bailiff with Rossendales. The episode focused on the reporter’s mentor, John Boast, who works in the Hounslow area of London.

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Mr Boast was filmed on a hidden camera being racist, aggressive and threatening towards members of the public who owed council tax.

The footage also appeared to show Mr Boast falsifying records to increase his commission payments and breaking numerous codes of practice.

According to the documentary, Rossendales is used by almost 150 local authorities, mainly to collect outstanding council tax.

Kirklees has been using Rossendales to collect housing benefit overpayments for the last six years, and has hired the firm to collect parking debts since 2007.

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The council said it has not received any complaints about Rossendales, which it has used on 18 occasions in the last year to collect around £20,000 worth of housing benefit overpayments. Rossendales has claimed £51 in commission for these cases.

The council did not incur any costs for the 1,316 times it used Rossendales to collect parking fines in the financial year 2010-11.

A council spokeswoman said: “The council gets regular update on the company’s performance and has regular contact with its liaison officer.

“Assurances are given by the appointed bailiff companies that they would adhere to Kirklees Council’s code of practice. A full detailed report is expected if any complaints are made.”

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She said the council’s arrangements with all bailiff companies was being reviewed this year, and the content of Monday’s Exposure will help determine which companies will be used in the future.

Kirklees uses two other bailiff firms, Philips and Equita, neither of which were named in the documentary. The council also has an in-house team of bailiffs.

Currently, there are no laws governing the way bailiffs work. There is a code of conduct that all bailiffs are expected to follow, but it is not legally binding.

In the documentary on Monday, Julie Green-Jones, chairwoman of Rossendales, said Mr Boast had been dismissed from the firm, but added that no complaints had ever been made against him.