Woman faces losing home over Buckinghamshire Council tax protest
The order allows the council to place a legal claim on Dr McCarthy's home, which could be used to force a sale. The council would then recover the amount owed from the proceeds."The order could just sit on the deeds to my property, or the council could return to court to force a sale on my house. It is up to them," said Dr McCarthy.
Dr McCarthy's said the protest was not a way to avoid paying her bills."I want to pay my council tax. It's not that I'm trying not to," she said."But it does, to me, evoke a matter of conscience that I'm handing over money that is going to be used to very seriously affect my children's future."The court reduced her legal costs by 75% to £1,000. But Dr McCarthy, who has incurable cancer, said the process was aggressive and unfair.The BBC asked the council to confirm how much of its pension investments were in "non-green" funds or fossil fuels, but it did not respond to that query.Protesters have highlighted the council's banking links with Barclays which they say is "funding climate chaos".The council's banking contract with Barclays runs until March 2027. The bank declined to comment.
'Committed' to greener future
Carington, cabinet member for resources at Buckinghamshire Council, said: "People are legally bound to pay it and the council has a legal duty to recover council tax as it is the nationally set system that funds vital local services."Consideration is always paid to a resident's situation and this will continue to be so in this case too."We will discuss next steps for how the funds owed can be reasonably recouped, now the court has made a decision on this matter."He added that the council was "committed to a greener future, and this is central to the decisions made by the Brunel Pension Partnership of which we are a member".He said Brunel's "target is for the investments it manages on behalf of its clients to be net zero by 2050 at the latest".
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