FOI request (FOI-75103115)

Freedom of Information Act Request

I have been commissioned by the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV) to undertake independent research into the use of the enforcement by way of Taking Control of Goods for Council Tax, National Non-Domestic Rates and decriminalised Parking. The aim is to produce a balanced and objective research document, which examines the use of this enforcement remedy by local authorities since the introduction of the Schedule 12 (Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) procedures.

To that end, I would be grateful if you could supply me with the attached information and data under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Whilst the information has been requested from every relevant local authority, individual authority data will not be shared. No individual local authority will be identified in the report as it will be used entirely for statistical purposes. With regard to commercial organisations, none of the information requested identifies any company or other organisation and so I don’t not believe it could be considered commercially sensitive.

The IRRV recognises the burden of producing such data and is extremely grateful to all local authorities and external suppliers for their necessary support in providing the information. Once published, the report will be freely available to all local authorities to compare to their own operations.

If your organisation does not carry out any of the functions, please enter N/A in Section 1 for the relevant function and leave the remaining data for that debt type blank.

I would like to take the opportunity in advance to thank you for your assistance.

The questions are detailed below, but to assist in the completion of this request, I have attached a spreadsheet, which I would be grateful if you could complete and return to me at:

Questions

(Other than the Background Numbers & information Section (which differs as regards different debts streams), all questions are the same and are broken down on the spreadsheet to assist completion)

For 2015/16, 2016/17 & 2017/18 financial years, for Council Tax, National Non-Domestic Rates and Parking:

1                     Background Numbers & Information

Council Tax

Number of Council Tax dwellings at start of year concerned

Number of Council Tax Liability Orders during year concerned

Council Tax Reduction Scheme Minimum payment due for each relevant year

Do you issue a Fourteen Day Letter (or equivalent) before issuing cases to Enforcement?

NNDR

Number of Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) properties at start of year concerned

Number of Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) Liability Orders during year concerned

Total Net Collectable Debit at start of year concerned

Do you issue a Seven/Fourteen Day Letter (or equivalent) before issuing cases to Enforcement?

(For dwellings and hereditaments, please use number of hereditaments on respective lists as at 1st April for each relevant year or 31st March of immediately preceding year)

(For CTRS, please provide the minimum payment required from Council Taxpayers excluding pensioners – please put 0% if you award full CTRS)

Parking

Number of Parking Tickets/PCNs issued during year

Number of PCNs registered at TEC during year

Number of PCNs cancelled

Do you issue any non-statutory notices before issuing cases to enforcement?

(Where any services are outsourced to either private contractors,  other public sector partners, or delivered under a shared service, please include the figures relevant to your own authority as if they were not outsourced etc.)

2                     Type of Enforcement Used

Please confirm whether you use:

• Outsourced enforcement only
• In House enforcement only
• Combination of both (both receive first and second placement)
• Outsourced for second placement only

(For these purposes, I am defining ‘outsourced’ as a private, external Enforcement Agency. ‘In House’ is defined as any Enforcement Agency which is owned and managed by the creditor local authority, or is a shared service operation with other local authorities)

3                     Number of Liability Orders/PCNs Subject to Enforcement

Number of Liability Orders/Instructions/warrants issued during the period to:

• In House only
• Outsourced only
• Both (for the same debt)

4                     Vulnerability            

In relation to any case where ‘vulnerability is identified, do you:

• Cancel the Schedule 12 procedure and return cases to the local authority?
• Retain the case, but make special arrangements for payments under the Compliance Stage?
• Proceed with further action (Committal / Insolvency / Attachment / Deductions), including letters warning of such for cases returned?
• Include a Nulla Bona / Certificate of Nil Effects where the reason for return is ‘vulnerability’?

For the following questions:

• Please answer the questions in relation to both in house and outsourced cases (if one does not apply, please state ‘N/A’)

• Where multiple Liability Orders / Instructions / warrants are issued for the same debtor, please answer the questions by individual Liability Orders / Instructions / warrants.

5                     Stage Results

Please confirm the number of cases paid in full at each of the following stages:

• Compliance
• Enforcement
• Sale

Please confirm the number of case returned, or where action was cancelled at each of the following stages:

• Compliance
• Enforcement
• Sale

6                     Stage Fees

Please confirm the number of times the following stage fees were charged during the period:

• Compliance
• Enforcement
• Sale

(Please include the full number charged, including counting multiple fees where multiple Liability Orders/warrants resulted in multiple Compliance Fees)

7                     Goods

Please confirm how many times goods were removed and:

• The debt was paid
• Goods were sold

8                     Returns

Please confirm how many cases were returned with the following reasons:

• Paid in Full
• Nulla Bona / Insufficient Goods
• Gone Away
• 'Vulnerable'
• Other