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Select Committee · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Council Tax Collection

Status: Closed Opened: 15 Nov 2021 Closed: 6 Mar 2024 12 recommendations 9 conclusions 1 report

This inquiry will lookinto council tax collection in England, examining the practices employed by local authorities to collect council tax arrears. The inquiry will also look at other issues including whether there should be changes to the legislation on the recovery of council tax arrears, and how local authority council tax support schemes affect council …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Second Report - Council Tax Collection HC 57 1 Dec 2023 21 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
3 Recommendation Second Report - Council Tax Collection Accepted in Part

Amend regulations to enshrine ability-to-pay principle and mandate affordable council tax repayment plans.

In addition, by the end of this Parliament, the Government should amend existing regulations to enshrine in law the principle that collection should be based on a resident’s ability to pay, including by requiring local authorities to offer people affordable repayment plans when an unpaid balance becomes payable.

Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation by committing to write to all councils to stress their discretion in offering flexible payment timelines and encouraging affordable repayment plans, but it does not commit to amending existing regulations to enshrine this principle …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
13 Recommendation Second Report - Council Tax Collection Accepted in Part

Mandate local authorities to only use Enforcement Conduct Board registered enforcement agencies.

In preparation for this review, we recommend that the Government start to collect the necessary data, so that it has a strong evidence base on which to make a decision, and that it keep us updated on the progress of the review. In the meantime, it should require all local …

Government response. The government agrees to update the committee on the upcoming review process, including data collection methodology. While not requiring local authorities to use ECB-registered firms, DLUHC will write to councils encouraging them to use accredited firms.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
15 Recommendation Second Report - Council Tax Collection Accepted in Part

Create an environment enabling easy, consistent data sharing to identify residents at risk of arrears.

The Government should not wait for local authorities to approach the Cabinet Office to learn how they can make better use of data sharing, but instead create an environment where this happens easily and consistently. We recommend that: • an application for universal credit automatically trigger an application for local …

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation for universal credit applications to automatically trigger local council tax support applications due to potential bureaucracy. However, it outlines ongoing and planned actions to improve data sharing between DWP and councils, including increasing the scope …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions
Date Witnesses
27 Feb 2023 Lee Rowley · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Nico Heslop · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government View ↗
6 Jun 2022 Alistair Townsend · Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation, Catherine Brown · Enforcement Conduct Board, Councillor Stephanie Cryan · London Borough of Southwark, Kevin Stewart · Mid Sussex District Council, Paul Whyte · Whyte & Co Ltd, Rachel Beddow · Citizens Advice, Russell Hamblin-Boone · Civil Enforcement Association View ↗

Correspondence

8 letters
DateDirectionTitle
14 May 2024 To cttee Letter from the UK Information Commissioner to the Chair dated 2 May 2024 conce…
14 May 2024 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Local Government to the Chair dated 2 May 2024 con…
16 Apr 2024 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State dated 15 April 2024 concerning …
16 Apr 2024 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Information Commissioner's Office dated 15 April 2…
18 Jul 2023 To cttee Letter from the Enforcement Conduct Board to the Chair dated 14 July 2023 conce…
18 Apr 2023 To cttee Letter from the Enforcement Conduct Board to the Chair dated 28 March 2023 conc…
18 Oct 2022 To cttee Letter from the Enforcement Conduct Board to the Chair dated 10 October 2022 co…
12 Jul 2022 — Letters from the Civil Enforcement Association to the Chair dated 20 June 2022 …