FOI request (FOIR-225244352)

Council Tax Summons

Requested Tue 07 July 2020
Responded  Wed 29 July 2020

I am writing to request information related to the collection of council tax debts via the use of Liability Orders and related enforcement action. Under the above-mentioned Act I would like you to provide me with the following information please.

For the last financial year ending April 5th 2020:

1. How many Court Summons did your organisation issue for debts relating to Council Tax payments?

2. How many Liability Orders did your organisation successfully obtain for debts relating to Council Tax payments?

3. How much total revenue did your organisation collect as a result of attachment to earnings and bailiff/sheriff enforcement action for debts relating to Council Tax payments resulting from Liability orders?

4. How much total revenue did your organisation lose as a result of non recoverable debts relating to Council Tax payments?

5. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, has your organisation suspended enforcement action for council tax debts? YES/NO

6. If YES to question 5, until what date is action currently suspended?

Response

1. 2,684

2. 2,673

3. We are unable to provide the data relating to specific debts and year it relates to as we do not hold/record this information. To obtain this information we would need to check every remittance we received in that time and try to identify the ones relating to the year.

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

To gather the information requested in relation to Q3 would far exceed the time limit set out by the Information Commissioner therefore under S12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000 provides an exemption from the obligation to comply with a request for information if the estimated costs of complying with that request would exceed the prescribed appropriate limit.

We estimate that the costs of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit by a significant amount.

For this reason we feel unable to comply with this request.

4. We are unable to provide the data as we continue to pursue unpaid Council Tax Debt

5. Yes

6. It was suspended to 30th June 2020