I’m writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act please.
1. In regards to council tax, over the last four years, what’s the total number and value of liability orders, bailiff referrals, value of arrears recovered and total costs of bailiff action for council tax arrears?
a) Number of liability orders
i. 2018/2019: 4280
ii. 2019/2020: 5210
iii. 2020/2021: 2423
iv. 2021/2022: 2784
For 2018/19 to 2019/20 available data shows the number of Liability Orders counting the number of debts on each Council Tax account adding a record for each debt year. An account may have debts due for multiple years. The data makes no deduction for cases paid in full between summons and Liability Order.
The data for 2020/21 and 2021/22 shows the number of Liability Orders per Council Tax account. In the case of accounts with multiple debts the record is counted once. Accounts paid in full between summons and Liability Order are accounted for and not included in the figures shown.
b) Number of bailiff referrals
i. 2018/2019: 2104
ii. 2019/2020 : 2141
iii. 2020/2021: 797
iv. 2021/2022: 3053
The above data shows the number of Liability Orders referred to bailiffs. This includes recycled debt, ie debts referred to one Enforcement Agent that are not recovered and are then referred to a second agent. In these cases, the same debt will be counted more than once in the reported figures.
c) Number of repayment plans
i. 2018/2019: 2,181
ii. 2019/2020: 2,601
iii. 2020/2021: 1,334
iv. 2021/2022: 2,087
The above data shows the number of Liability Order payment arrangements set up on the council’s Council Tax records during the relevant financial year. In circumstances of failed arrangements, if a new arrangement was negotiated the same case will be counted more than once in the reported figures.
d) Total value of debt referred to bailiffs
i. 2018/2019: £1,908,171.74
ii. 2019/2020: £2,030,224.06
iii. 2020/2021: £983,994.50
iv. 2021/2022: £3,425,957.69
The above data shows the value of debt referred to bailiffs. This includes recycled debt, ie debts referred to one Enforcement Agent that are not recovered and are then referred to a second agent. In these cases, the same debt will be counted more than once in the reported figures.
e) Value of arrears recovered by bailiffs
i. 2018/2019: £658,434.26
ii. 2019/2020: £419,363.80
iii. 2020/2021: £215,687.91
iv. 2021/2022: £492,138.47