Council Tax: Debts
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that statutory pre-enforcement requirements for council tax debt include mandatory affordability checks, vulnerability identification and pauses in enforcement while residents are engaging with local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern
The Government has published a technical consultation, targeted at local authorities and debt advice organisations, on proposed statutory steps for councils to take before formal council tax enforcement action, alongside accompanying guidance on other actions councils should consider before enforcement.
This follows the Government’s response to its public consultation on modernising council tax administration, which announced wider reforms to council tax collection and enforcement. The technical consultation seeks views from local authorities and key stakeholders on how councils should support vulnerable taxpayers before moving to formal enforcement. The consultation closes on 29 July and can be found here.
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