Asked by: Lord Ramsbotham (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to bring England into line with the rest of the UK by removing the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Imprisonment should only ever be the last resort for non-payment of council tax. Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must inquire as to the debtor’s means, and satisfy itself that failure to pay is due to “wilful refusal or culpable neglect”. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison. The Government does not have any plans to change the current arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Ramsbotham (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Citizens Advice Bureau report <i>Catching Up: improving council tax arrears collection</i> published on 8 July, and of why that report does not refer to the guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of council tax arrears in respect of vulnerable people published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in June 2013.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government made its position clear in our ‘Guidance to Local Councils on Good Practice in the Collection of Council Tax Arrears’, June 2013. This highlights the importance of councils being sympathetic to those in genuine hardship and that they are proportionate in their enforcement action, as well as noting the support that should be provided to vulnerable people.