See answers to previous information requests

There is very limited, if any, publicly available information on the following issues. Answers to the following questions would provide the public with information about the extent of the support and/or forbearance afforded to victims of domestic abuse (including economic abuse) by local authorities across the UK as well as inform us of ongoing policy work and public campaign on this issue. The disclosure of such information would therefore undoubtedly be in the public interest.

1. Council tax arrears
a) What is the total value (£) of council tax arrears currently held by the authority?
b) How many individual accounts are currently in council tax arrears?
c) How many council tax accounts were referred to enforcement agents (e.g. bailiffs) in the last 24 months?

2. Support to Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse
a) In the last 24 months, how many residents experiencing domestic abuse has the council
supported with debt-related relief or support (e.g. council tax reductions, payment plans,
discretionary hardship payments, write-offs)?
b) Does the authority record or monitor whether a resident requesting debt relief has experienced domestic abuse? If so, how many such cases have been recorded in the last 24 months?

3. Debt Recovery and Domestic Abuse Policies
a) Does the authority have any policies, procedures, or guidance documents that refer to domestic abuse as a consideration in debt recovery processes (including enforcement, recovery pauses, or alternative arrangements)? Please provide a copy or link.
b) Does the authority have any policies, procedures, or guidance that include domestic abuse as a factor in determining eligibility for council tax write-offs or reductions under Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992?

4. Discretionary Write-Off Monitoring
a) Does the authority monitor or record the use of discretionary council tax write-offs granted under Section 13A(1)(c)?
b) If yes: How many discretionary council tax write-off requests were (i) received and (ii)
approved and (iii) not approved in the last 24 months?
c) In how many of those (i) received (ii) approved and (iii) not approved cases was domestic
abuse recorded as a contributing factor or reason for the request?
d) Does the authority monitor and record the decision maker and decision-making time scale for council tax write offs? If yes: (i) Who was the decision maker for these cases and (ii) what
was the average time taken to make a decision and (iii) were individuals given a written
explanation when a request is refused?

5. Approaches to Other Public Sector Debts
a) Does the authority have policies or guidance in place relating to recovery of other public sector debts (e.g. housing arrears, benefit overpayments, social care charges)?
b) Do any of these policies explicitly reference domestic abuse as a relevant factor in debt
recovery or relief decisions?
c) Please provide copies or links to these policies.

6. Enforcement Agents
a) Are external enforcement agents used for council tax recovery? If yes, please provide the
name(s) of current suppliers.
b) Did your procurement or process for selection of external enforcement agents consider
vulnerability in relation to domestic abuse?
c) Do your contracts with these suppliers set out requirements on vulnerability in relation to
domestic abuse?
d) Do you share vulnerability relating to domestic abuse with enforcement agents, and if so under what policy or data sharing agreement? Please provide copy of the applicable data sharing agreement, if available.

7. Training and practice
a) Are your staff required to undertake training that include identifying signs of domestic abuse?
b) Are your staff required to undertake training that includes identifying signs of economic
abuse?

There is very limited, if any, publicly available information on the following issues. Answers to the following questions would provide the public with information about the extent of the support and/or forbearance afforded to victims of domestic abuse (including economic abuse) by local authorities across the UK as well as inform us of ongoing policy work and public campaign on this issue. The disclosure of such information would therefore undoubtedly be in the public interest.

1. Council tax arrears
a) What is the total value (£) of council tax arrears currently held by the authority: £92,719,999.97 total debt with a Liability Order granted (debt value is inclusive of costs).
b) How many individual accounts are currently in council tax arrears: 4,367 individual accounts in arrears.
c) How many council tax accounts were referred to enforcement agents (e.g. bailiffs) in the last 24 months: This is not something we track. We track by Liability Orders sent to EAs. We have also been trialing some cases with new EAs this year so instead please see figure of cases sent to the EA we have used over the last 24 months:
3282

2. Support to Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse
a) In the last 24 months, how many residents experiencing domestic abuse has the council supported with debt-related relief or support (e.g. council tax reductions, payment plans, discretionary hardship payments, write-offs): This is not something we track.
b) Does the authority record or monitor whether a resident requesting debt relief has experienced domestic abuse? If so, how many such cases have been recorded in the last 24 months: We do not track this.

3. Debt Recovery and Domestic Abuse Policies
a) Does the authority have any policies, procedures, or guidance documents that refer to domestic abuse as a consideration in debt recovery processes (including enforcement, recovery pauses, or alternative arrangements)? Please provide a copy or link: No we do not.
b) Does the authority have any policies, procedures, or guidance that include domestic abuse as a factor in determining eligibility for council tax write-offs or reductions under Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992: Section 13A is a discretionary scheme so there is no specific link to Domestic Abuse in the Council’s policy itself as each case would need to be treated on a case-by-case basis.
The objectives of the policy are:
“• assist customers who are experiencing a personal crisis and difficult events affecting their finances;
• assist customers through unforeseen short-term circumstances which is causing hardship;
• prevent exceptional hardship and assist those who are financially vulnerable;
• support vulnerable young people in the transition to adult life;
• support customers with children to keep the families together;
• assist customers in obtaining and sustaining employment; and
• Aim to alleviate poverty.

The main features of the policy are that:-
• The payments are discretionary;
• Payments are time limited and to help with exceptional hardship;
• There is no statutory right to be awarded a payment;
• Hardship payments are not a payment of Council Tax Reduction;
• Applicants should normally be in receipt of Council Tax Reduction when the
application is made; and
• All applications will be considered on its own merit.”
Domestic Abuse would fall under several of these categories.

4. Discretionary Write-Off Monitoring
a) Does the authority monitor or record the use of discretionary council tax write-offs granted under Section 13A(1)(c): Yes we do.
b) If yes: How many discretionary council tax write-off requests were (i) received and (ii) approved and (iii) not approved in the last 24 months?
Received:
Total: 166
2024 Tax year: 92
2025 Tax Year: 74
Approved:
Total: 100
2024 Tax Year: 69
2025 Tax Year: 31
Not approved:
Total: 66
2024 Tax Year: 23
2025 Tax Year: 43

c) In how many of those (i) received (ii) approved and (iii) not approved cases was domestic abuse recorded as a contributing factor or reason for the request?
Received: 9
Approved: 8
Rejected: 1
d) Does the authority monitor and record the decision maker and decision-making time scale for council tax write offs? If yes: (i) Who was the decision maker for these cases and (ii) what was the average time taken to make a decision and (iii) were individuals given a written explanation when a request is refused: Section 13A applications are worked on by a Senior in the team, then sent to a Manager for checking and a decision. We do not monitor how long it takes to complete the form. Each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis so we may ask for additional information which would extend how long they can take to get to a decision.

6. Enforcement Agents
a) Are external enforcement agents used for council tax recovery? If yes, please provide the name(s) of current suppliers: Enforcement agencies that have been used in the last 24 months:
Excel Civil Enforcement,
Bristow and Sutor,
Marston Enforcement,
Empira.
b) Did your procurement or process for selection of external enforcement agents consider vulnerability in relation to domestic abuse: Unsure.
c) Do your contracts with these suppliers set out requirements on vulnerability in relation to domestic abuse: Unsure.

7. Training and practice
a) Are your staff required to undertake training that include identifying signs of domestic abuse: All staff are required to complete Safeguarding training as part of their induction to the council, which includes information about domestic abuse. In addition, all staff are able to access a domestic abuse awareness e-learning module as well as a wide range of domestic abuse related training sessions.
b) Are your staff required to undertake training that includes identifying signs of economic abuse: There is no mandated training relating to economic abuse within a domestic abuse relationship, however relevant staff can access training on economic abuse, including workshop sessions to enable them to relate their work role situations to how this might impact on a victim-survivor of domestic abuse.