SIX months ago the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, highlighted the fact that Vale of Glamorgan Council had passed 2245 to bailiffs in 2014/15. This formed part of a total of 2.1 million debts passed by councils to bailiffs in England and Wales during these 12 months.

I would like to congratulate Vale of Glamorgan Council for their positive engagement with our Stop The Knock campaign since then, and for looking at how they can improve their debt collection practices to reduce the use of bailiffs in the future, including improving signposting to free debt advice charities.

I would urge anyone worrying about council tax arrears or other debts to contact a charity-run service such as National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or nationaldebtline.org as soon as possible.

Joanna Elson OBE,

Chief executive of the Money Advice Trust,

The charity that runs National Debtline