Debt enforcement agencies in relation to Council Tax
Case reference FOI2023/01491
Published 12 September 2023
Request
I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1. Since April 2020, has the council at any point used debt enforcement agencies (or similar service providers) in relation to cases of outstanding council tax debt?
2. What are the debt enforcement agencies referred to in response to question 1?
3. How many council tax debt cases were referred to each of the debt enforcement agencies listed in response to question 2 in each financial year 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23?
4. How much unpaid council tax debt (preferably including any 'penalty' fees/charges) was referred in total to debt enforcement agencies in the financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 combined? This should be one figure, combining all the debt enforcement agencies and all three financial years
5. How much of the council tax debt stated in response to question 4 was collected after being referred to a debt enforcement agency? Again, this should be one figure combining all agencies and all three financial years (including debt that was collected in a later financial year than when it was referred)
Response
I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1. Since April 2020, has the council at any point used debt enforcement agencies (or similar service providers) in relation to cases of outstanding council tax debt?
Yes.
2. What are the debt enforcement agencies referred to in response to question 1?
Bristow and Sutor.
3. How many council tax debt cases were referred to each of the debt enforcement agencies listed in response to question 2 in each financial year 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23?
· 2020 - 2021: 1,821
· 2021 - 2022: 3,087
· 2022 - 2023: 2,221
4. How much unpaid council tax debt (preferably including any 'penalty' fees/charges) was referred in total to debt enforcement agencies in the financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 combined? This should be one figure, combining all the debt enforcement agencies and all three financial years.
£6,072,028.87
5. How much of the council tax debt stated in response to question 4 was collected after being referred to a debt enforcement agency? Again, this should be one figure combining all agencies and all three financial years (including debt that was collected in a later financial year than when it was referred)
£1,904,349.09
Documents
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