Referrals jumped from 785 to 1,340 in 2025/26, the highest in three years, while Bromsgrove collected 97.84% of its council tax, the best rate in Worcestershire.
Bromsgrove District Council passed 1,340 council tax debts to bailiffs in 2025/26, up from 785 the year before. That is 555 more referrals, a rise of 71%.
The figures come from the council’s own answer to a Freedom of Information request, published in the Stop the Knock dataset by the debt charity the Money Advice Trust on 27 August 2026. The same return records £7,939,000 of council tax arrears outstanding in the district, and confirms that Bromsgrove does not exempt people receiving Council Tax Support from bailiff action.
The rise is not the whole story, and the whole story is more interesting. Referrals had fallen the previous year, from 1,129 in 2023/24 to 785 in 2024/25, a drop of 30%. The 2025/26 figure is not just a rebound: at 1,340 it is the highest of the three years the charity records, and 19% above the 2023/24 level.
Bromsgrove collects more of its council tax than any other Worcestershire district
This is the part that does not fit the usual explanation. A council chasing harder is normally a council collecting worse. Bromsgrove is collecting better than anywhere else in the county.
Government statistics published on 24 June 2026 and revised on 31 July show Bromsgrove collected 97.84% of the council tax it billed for 2025-26 by the end of March, up from 97.79% the year before. The England average was 95.60%, and the average for shire districts was 97.02% (MHCLG collection rates, Table 6a).
In cash, Bromsgrove billed £88.864m for the year and had collected £86.941m of it by 31 March 2026, leaving £1.923m of that year’s bills unpaid.
How the six Worcestershire districts compare
Every Worcestershire district answered the FOI request. None of the six exempts Council Tax Support recipients from bailiff action.
| District | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | Change | Collection rate 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bromsgrove | 1,129 | 785 | 1,340 | +71% | 97.84% |
| Wyre Forest | 535 | 529 | 1,288 | +143% | 97.23% |
| Worcester | 922 | 2,395 | 2,627 | +10% | 96.15% |
| Malvern Hills | 654 | 1,391 | 1,474 | +6% | 97.52% |
| Wychavon | 826 | 2,903 | 2,844 | -2% | 97.51% |
| Redditch | 1,733 | 1,796 | 1,503 | -16% | 95.98% |
Referral counts: Money Advice Trust, Stop the Knock, 2026. Collection rates: MHCLG, Table 6a, 2025-26.
Two districts cut their use of bailiffs and four increased it. Wychavon still refers more than twice as many debts as Bromsgrove despite a slight fall. Redditch, which has the county’s worst collection rate at 95.98%, made the largest cut.
Nationally the picture was flat: the Money Advice Trust counted 1.72 million referrals across England and Wales in 2025/26, against 1.74 million the year before, while council tax arrears rose to £7.4bn from £6.6bn. The charity found 48%, or 153 councils, increased their use of bailiffs, and that only 26 councils now exempt Council Tax Support recipients, down from 35.
Bromsgrove District Council has not published a response to the research. Its own help with debt page recommends National Debtline, which is run by the Money Advice Trust, the charity behind these figures.
What it means for you
Bailiffs do not arrive without warning. The council sets out the sequence itself, and there are three points at which it can still be stopped:
- Reminder notice. You get seven days to pay. Contact the council now, not later.
- Magistrates court summons. This adds £65.60 in court costs to your account.
- Liability order. Once the court grants it, the council can attach your earnings or benefits, refer the debt to an enforcement agent, apply a charging order, or start bankruptcy or committal proceedings.
The step that matters most is the one after that. The council states plainly that “if we forward your account to a enforcement agent, the enforcement agent becomes responsible for recovering the debt and we will not usually intervene any further”. In other words, once it goes, it is out of the council’s hands, and enforcement agent fees are added on top of what you already owe.
What to do instead:
- Ask for a payment arrangement before the summons. The council asks for a completed financial statement form showing income and outgoings, and will then agree a plan you can afford.
- Check you are getting Council Tax Support if you are on a low income or disabled. Bromsgrove does not exempt Council Tax Support recipients from bailiff action, so receiving it is not by itself protection, but it lowers the bill.
- Check your band and your discounts. A wrong band or a missed single person discount is worth more than any repayment plan. Our council tax bands page has the 2026/27 figures for the town and all 19 parishes.
- Get free advice. The council names Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch, National Debtline, StepChange, Christians Against Poverty and Money Wellness. All are free. None charges for a debt plan.
One thing worth knowing about the bill itself: Bromsgrove District Council does the billing and the chasing, but the money funds four bodies. Alongside the district council, it pays for Worcestershire County Council, the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service. All seven of the county’s councils are due to be replaced by two unitary authorities on 1 April 2028, which will eventually move the collection of this debt to a new North Worcestershire council.
Sources
- Money Advice Trust, Stop the Knock local authority dataset, published 27 August 2026, based on Freedom of Information responses
- Money Advice Trust, Almost half of councils increase bailiff use as council tax arrears hit £7.4bn, 27 August 2026
- MHCLG, Collection rates for Council Tax and non-domestic rates in England, 2025 to 2026, published 24 June 2026, revised 31 July 2026 (Table 6a)
- Bromsgrove District Council, If you don’t pay your Council Tax and How we recover Council Tax debt
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