WIRRAL Council is being called on to disclose information on the practices employed by bailiffs after the authority used them more than 12,000 times to collect unpaid council tax over the last 12 months.

Birkenhead MP Frank Field says residents are at risk of “falling even deeper into debt” by the use of bailiffs who are “squeezing them for everything they have”.

It comes after the Globe revealed how Wirral Council instructed bailiffs to collect debts from individuals and businesses on 12,214 times in 2014/15 – up 52% in two years.

Figures from the Money Advice Trust shows the National Debtline has received 595 phone calls for help from Birkenhead over the last two years.

The number of debts passed to bailiffs was equivalent to 7.86% of properties in the area, ranking the council 94 out of 326 for local authority bailiff use in England and Wales.

Wirral Council ended the 2014/15 year with £17.3 million in unpaid council tax arrears.

Research also suggests that local authorities who rely most heavily on bailiffs to collect council tax are actually less successful, on average, at collecting arrears from previous years.

Mr Field said changes introduced by the Government in 2013 led to council tax being levied on some of the poorest households for the very first time.

He also said how local residents have contacted him in recent weeks who cannot afford to pay off their debts to the council and, even if this were possible, the additional fees charged by bailiffs make it almost impossible to settle up.

“Local residents, it seems, are being put at risk by this policy of falling even deeper into debt,” said Mr Field.

“The bailiffs are squeezing them for everything they have, or in many cases don’t have. I’ve asked the council to shine a light on the practices employed by the bailiffs being paid to collect these sums, so we can see whether the process operates fairly – both for ratepayers and the most vulnerable.”

Earlier this year, the Globe reported how more than 8,000 children across Wirral are living in fear of bailiffs as their families struggle with unpaid council tax.

Figures from The Children’s Society revealed that 4,673 families on Wirral have experienced council tax debt, affecting 8,075 children.

Joe Blott, Wirral’s strategic director of transformation and resources said: "We have a duty to recover debts on behalf of the council taxpayer, and in difficult economic times, more people are likely to default. Non-payment of council tax also puts an additional strain on our resources and essential services. 

"The agency we use has to work to policies designed to safeguard vulnerable people, and where necessary, will refer cases to their welfare team to deal with. They also actively signpost customers to free debt advice."

Wirral Council leader Phil Davies said he will be backing Mr Field’s request.