Council Tax Debt Recovery
Case reference FOI2025/01844
Received 18 September 2025
Published 16 October 2025
Request
We are conducting some research into council tax debt collection, as it impacts our clients significantly, and as such I am making a Freedom of Information Request. I am noting that the request has been made on the 18th September and therefore I look forward to hearing from you by the 16th October. In more detail, I ask that you please provide by email copies of the standard template letters or digital communications your council issues to residents in relation to Council Tax arrears, specifically:
1. The initial reminder notice issued as part of the arrears or recovery process, as per requirements under Regulation 23 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.
2. The second reminder notice, issued in the event that a resident has rectified one missed instalment but gone on to miss a second instalment over a given annual period.
3. The final notice issued once the resident has lost the right to pay by instalments and prior to any further enforcement action, as per requirements under Regulation 33 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.
4. Any additional reminder notices or discretionary communications issued to residents with Council Tax arrears, including between the first reminder notice and final notice being issued (prior to a court summons).
For each, please include:
• The full wording of the standard template
• Any headers, footers, or formatting used in the letter or digital communications • The typical method of delivery (e.g. post, email)
• Any differences in the templates based on resident circumstances (e.g. prior arrears, benefits status, vulnerability) In addition, please can you inform us of:
The total number of households against which you started imprisonment committal proceedings relating to unpaid council tax, for each year from 2020.
Response
We are conducting some research into council tax debt collection, as it impacts our clients significantly, and as such I am making a Freedom of Information Request. I am noting that the request has been made on the 18th September and therefore I look forward to hearing from you by the 16th October.
In more detail, I ask that you please provide by email copies of the standard template letters or digital communications your council issues to residents in relation to Council Tax arrears, specifically:
1. The initial reminder notice issued as part of the arrears or recovery process, as per requirements under Regulation 23 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.
2. The second reminder notice, issued in the event that a resident has rectified one missed instalment but gone on to miss a second instalment over a given annual period.
3. The final notice issued once the resident has lost the right to pay by instalments and prior to any further enforcement action, as per requirements under Regulation 33 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.
4. Any additional reminder notices or discretionary communications issued to residents with Council Tax arrears, including between the first reminder notice and final notice being issued (prior to a court summons).
For each, please include:
• The full wording of the standard template
• Any headers, footers, or formatting used in the letter or digital communications
• The typical method of delivery (e.g. post, email)
• Any differences in the templates based on resident circumstances (e.g. prior arrears, benefits status, vulnerability)
A: We consider the information requested above to be exempt under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which exempts information if disclosure would, or would be likely, to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
This exemption is subject to the public interest test, and accordingly I have weighed up the reasons for and against disclosure as follows:
Reasons for disclosure in the public interest:
Transparency regarding Council process and proceedure regarding Council Tax debt collection.
Reasons against disclosure in the public interest:
Disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act is essentially a disclosure to the world at large not just to the person who made the request.
If the template letters were released to the world at large including details of the full wording, headers, formats, method of delivery and differences in the templates used, someone with malicious intent could use the template as the basis for creating a fake reminder notice to send to residents. The template includes details of how someone can make a payment of their council tax – and includes details of sort and account codes to pay these into. Someone could amend these details and the contact details to their own, and someone in receipt of the fake reminder could then make payment to the fraudster believing they were sending the monies to the council.
A resident could then end up paying monies out twice – to the fraudster and to the council, which could cause financial problems and a great deal of distress. There is also a cost associated with seeking recovery of funds paid to fraudsters. Potential losses to the council itself and to the public purse extend far beyond this particular matter when mosaic or precedent effects are taken into account. Such costs are not in the public interest.
Taking the above into account I find the balance in favour of non-disclosure of the requested information in the public interest. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
In addition, please can you inform us of:
1. The total number of households against which you started imprisonment committal proceedings relating to unpaid council tax, for each year from 2020.
A: 2020-21 - 0
2021-22 - 0
2022-23 - 0
2023-24 - 0
2024-25 - 5
2025-26 – 3
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.