Campaigners have expressed anger at Haringey employing an officer in charge of council tax collection who was previously a director at a bailiff firm used by the authority.

David Graaff, Haringey Council’s head of service delivery, was business development director at bailiff firm JBW, now known as CDER Group, between mid-2015 and early-2017 - according to his LinkedIn profile.

CDER Group is one of four enforcement agencies used by Haringey Council to recover council tax debts.

According to a job description from 2020, the head of service delivery at the council – advertised with a salary of between £72,100 and £84,200 a year – is “responsible for the collection of…council tax”.

It is understood that Mr Graaff started in the role at the end of 2020.

ACORN Haringey, a community group that has been campaigning against the use of bailiffs to collect council tax debt, has now claimed that Mr Graaff is “obviously not the right person” to implement the council’s debt policies.

Reuben Bard-Rosenberg, chair of ACORN Haringey, said: “It’s outrageous that the Haringey Council staff member responsible for debt collection has former ties to a private company that profits off people being thrown to bailiffs in our borough. 

“A former head honcho of a bailiff company used by this council is obviously not the right person to implement an ethical debt policy or to reduce the council's reliance on these enforcers.”

A spokesperson for Haringey Council refused to comment on the "unacceptable and inappropriate personal attacks on our hard-working staff”.

In February 2021, Haringey Council implemented its Ethical Debt Reduction Policy, which aims to ensure that it never uses “bailiffs to enforce council tax debts where people are vulnerable, face mental health issues or are on low incomes”.

Despite the policy, Haringey Council still passed on 8,184 cases in the year to April.

This paper reported in June that a man felt he was “bullied” on his own doorstep by a bailiff from CDER Group after his household missed an instalment on its council tax repayment plan.

Mr Graaff did not respond to a request for comment.