Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones said the Government is considering new laws governing bailiffs after being told of ‘harrowing’ cases of abuse
Tougher laws are being looked at to regulate bailiffs, a minister said after MPs heard of “harrowing” cases.
Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones said she was shocked after being told about vulnerable people being mistreated. She assured MPs that the Government is considering calls to set up a tough new independent regulator.
It came after Labour’s Luke Charters told a Westminster Hall debate: “A vulnerable disabled person answered a knock at the door. He placed the chain on before opening it slightly, only for a bailiff to force their way through.
“The bailiff treated him, in his own words, like a ‘waste of a life’, a ‘loser’, ‘scum’. Worse still the bailiff went on to wrongly seize equipment provided by the local authority designed to help him with his disability.
“This isn’t an isolated incident.” He listed further cases where people had tried to take their own lifes, and an instance where a woman had had a late term abortion after being harassed by bailiffs.
He said: “It’s time for an overhaul.” Mr Charters said that although the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) oversees the industry, it is not compulsory for firms to sign up.
The ECB and charities are pushing for it to be a compulsory regulator to ensure sickening abuses are stamped out, he said. In response Ms Davies-Jones said: “The harrowing stories we’ve heard today demonstrate why this is so critical.” And she went on: “What we’ve heard today should quite rightly shock us all.”
She said: “Let me reassure you that we are considering all of these issues that have been raised today.” Ms Davies-Jones said that four million court orders are issued each year, and it is important they are enacted.
The minister stated: “The enforcement sector plays an important role in supporting economic growth, funding public services and underpinning the rule of law. But the enforcement sector has a significant impact on people’s lives.”
She said that 96% of the industry had signed up to the ECB as she refused to rule out fresh legislation.
