Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department's Answer of 22 May 2018 to Questions 145383 and 145384 on debt collection, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on innocent occupants of residences subject to action by High Court Enforcement Agents where the individual named on the enforcement document has never resided.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Ministry of Justice has not made any assessment of the effect on occupants of residences subject to action by High Court Enforcement Agents, where the individual named on the enforcement document has never lived at that address.
In April 2018, I announced our plan to conduct a call for evidence to inform a review of reforms introduced by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The call for evidence will focus on enforcement agent behaviour and will allow those who have had contact with enforcement agents to provide feedback about their experiences.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that letters relating to enforcement court orders sent to residences are unnamed to ensure that in incidences where the offender (a) does not live and (b) has never lived at the residence the occupants of that residence have a right to reply to the court before enforcement action is taken.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Ministry of Justice has no proposals to change its policy that letters relating to the enforcement of court orders are sent to a named individual or business.
Effective enforcement action requires a court judgment or order to be made clearly against a party. An occupant of a residence or business premises should inform the court if they are not the named individual on an enforcement document.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the data on the number of court orders the High Court has issued to enforcement agents that relate to an address where the judgment debtor does not reside or has never resided.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court orders the High Court has issued to Enforcement Agents that relate to an address where an offender (a) does not currently reside and (b) has never resided in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Ministry of Justice has no proposals to change its policy that letters relating to the enforcement of court orders are sent to a named individual or business.
Effective enforcement action requires a court judgment or order to be made clearly against a party. An occupant of a residence or business premises should inform the court if they are not the named individual on an enforcement document.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the data on the number of court orders the High Court has issued to enforcement agents that relate to an address where the judgment debtor does not reside or has never resided.