An interesting twist emerges with the continuing saga of the Great Siege of Bradford, in the form of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, Regulation 52 (4).

Readers will instantly recognise this jolly little provision, which states that where Council Tax recovery is in progress after a liability order has been issued, and the debtor pays only part of the overall bill, the costs and charges can be deducted first. Only the balance goes towards paying off the debt.

Essentially, therefore, the bailiff fees come before the tax bill, and the higher the fees and the more rapacious are the bailiffs, the less the councils are likely to get.

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Or, the local authority could choose not to pursue you for the sum outstanding for reasons of cost or expediency. For example , if my neighbour moves our boundary fence two inches into my garden, my decision notto take the rotter to court to reinstate the fence correctly does not imply that I accept his unlawful landgrab, merely that I do not wish to enrich surveyors and lawyers when alternative methods of creating an embuggerance for my neighbour are available.

Sounds like a case of "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose".
Well done.

And sign of the FOI draft yet Richard.

I don't want to submit one of my own because I'm not really sure what to ask for.
Ta
Jo

Just making sure you can hear me cheering you on, Dr. N. There's a bit of a fug over the Panhandle, just now!

Yep, this is what will happen. The council won't want to get involved in this, nor set a precedent.

Indeed, bullies and all predators prefer to ignore capable people who know how to look after themselves and concentrate on the naive and weak: the kind, honest folk who are frightened and ashamed of the balliffs' letters. They can thereby get what they want with the minimum of risk and energy expended.
Notice how travellers consistently succeed in their lawbreaking battles with the Police and local government - they are obviously naive and weak

Nice one RIchard. If the council go all quiet on this, could you not pursue them for a reimbursement of the portion of your council tax which they have misused to pay a bailiff? After all, everyone's council tax bill has a clear breakdown of the services upon which the total demanded will be spent.

They are trying ... http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... lates.html

But it ain't over.