05/11/01 - Daily Record

Old Bill Squeeze The Tax Dodgers

Ian McKerron

Retired cops have tracked down millions of pounds in council tax debt.

Special hit squads of former policemen have been called in by local authorities to trace the cheats.

And the "Persuaders" - none below the rank of inspector - have brought in more than £7 million for one Scottish council alone.

South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire councils called in credit management specialists BCW Group to crack down on tax dodgers.

Other councils, including Glasgow which has £90 million outstanding, are watching with interest as they try to recover a combined £500 million debt.

Glasgow based BCW drew most of its 12-strong squad from Strathclyde Police

Group managing director Paul Fraser, 41, believes the "softly, softly" approach works better than sending in the sheriff officers.

He said: " We need a new approach. The days of the sheriff officer going out and threatening people to pay up or else are over.

"As ex-policemen, our team members come with invaluable skills of negotiation and assertiveness.

"They can explain to defaulters in a non-threatening but authoritative way the nature of their debts.

"They can tell them in no uncertain terms what could happen to them if they don't pay. But the secret is to persuade them to pay without treating them like criminals or driving them to financial ruin."

BCW has set up a public sector arm to deal exclusively with councils.

In South Lanarkshire, tax collection rose from 88 per cent to 93 percent - worth more than £7 million.

A further £4 million in debt from before the last local government reorganisation in 1996 has also been repaid. And West Dunbartonshire is climbing up the collection league after being bottom of the table last year.

A West Dunbartonshire council spokesman said: "We are monitoring performance monthly and there has been a significant improvement."

The squad is backed up by IT programmes giving financial profiles on defaulters and allowing them to work out the best and easiest way for them to pay.

In many cases, offenders learn they are not claiming all the benefits to which they are entitled.

In other cases, the arrival of an authoritative figure on the doorstep is enough to persuade them to start clearing their debts.

BCW public sector managing director Bill Irvine said: "We're bridging the gap that has been widening since the days of the Poll Tax when non-payment in Scotland was actively encouraged"