Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Streamline the council tax liability order process, allowing bulk and virtual applications.
Recommendation
The process for obtaining a liability order is inefficient and can hinder, rather than aid, the collection of unpaid council tax. We therefore strongly recommend that the Government make the liability order process less burdensome, including by allowing bulk applications, virtual applications, or both, so long as residents remain able to raise objections. (Paragraph 21) Supportive council tax collection
Government Response Summary
The government states that bulk applications for council tax liability orders have been common practice since 1992, and virtual hearings are already lawful and remain an available option for magistrates’ courts.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Magistrate courts have dealt with council tax applications in bulk since its inception in 1992. An in-depth review by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in 2019-2020 confirmed that courts on average deal with lists of several hundred. Virtual proceedings are lawful in magistrates’ courts civil proceedings. The court can make a direction for a live link hearing where the court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice. During the covid emergency, all council tax hearings were conducted this way. There has been a return to in person hearings since the end of lockdown, but the option of a virtual hearing remains available. Under the current rules, a direction must be made for each case by a member of the judiciary or a legal adviser.