Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate the Government has made of the level of non-compliance with judgements in small claims courts; and what plans he has to strengthen the powers of courts to enforce judgements in small claims cases.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not have data about the level of compliance with judgments in the county court, because judgment debts are not always paid into court.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the enforcement of court judgments is effective whilst protecting debtors from aggressive behaviour from enforcement agents. We have launched a call for evidence on how enforcement agents operate as part of our review of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The call for evidence closes on 17 February 2019. We shall consider the need for further reform of the powers and regulation of enforcement in the light of that evidence.

As part of its wider reform project, HMCTS is focusing on improving the service it provides to people who wish to enforce a court judgment.