so the council computer cancelled his council tax benefit.sment saying i earned £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. i said £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. isaid no i'm not. some weeks £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. i said no i'm not. some weeks i earned £20 a week. franklin says he couldn't afford the full council tax 110w couldn't afford the full council tax now being charged. and the bailiffs are knocking. i'm trying to better myself. i'm diagnosed with heart failure and kidney failure. i have multiple organ failure. i thought let me go and get a job for the last yea rs let me go and get a job for the last years and try to better myself, you know. this is the obstacle why people don't want to work because of the hassle. not because they're lazy, but because of the hassle that they get from the government. the letter box is jammed they get from the government. the letter box isjammed up. in some cases it's impossible to get the money back, then there's nothing else we can do. are you finding that more and more? yes. yes. pe

so the council computer cancelled his council tax benefit.i earned £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. isaid, no, i'm not. some weeks i was earning £20 a week. franklin says he couldn't afford the full council tax now being charged. and the bailiffs are knocking. i'm trying to better myself. i'm diagnosed with heart failure and kidney failure. i have multiple organ failure. i thought, let me go out and get a job for the last years and try to better myself, you know. this is the obstacle why people don't want to work because of the hassle. are you finding that more and more? yes. people haven't got the means to pay. mike thompson was a book seller until a devastating illness meant he could barely work. his council tax debt would take his home and lead to recovery costs 30 times the original arrears of 2,900. the council forced the sale of the house. i gotjust over £6,000 as my share of the proceeds. the other £85, £86,000 was swallowed up in the debt itself, plus all the costs that had accumulated along the way. now mike lives in sheltered

in addition to this many of them avoid paying council tax by switching to business use and been enjoying the benefits of small business rate relief. does my right honorable friend agree with me that this situation is unacceptable? would use his good offices to help find a way closing this loophole? >> my honorable friend brings a valid point. holiday ownership pay the correct tax. whether the property should they council tax or business rates rests with the valuation of his agency that operates independently of ministers, and rightly so. but if a a property is availabe for rent for one of the 40 days or more a year, and will be subject to business rates. if it does not meet this test, council tax will be due. if an individual provides false information in order to seek business rate relief, a person is liable to summary conviction or a fine, or both. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister once to bring forward -- domestic violence and abuse but her government is taxing the same survivors for using -- [inaudible] for survivors of domestic abuse using that service is not a matter of choice. it's a matter o