Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to introduce a body to oversee the regulation of the bailiff industry.

The Ministry of Justice is currently reviewing the implementation of reforms, contained in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and introduced in 2014, which govern how enforcement agents (bailiffs) enforce debt.

We held a call for evidence to inform our review, which ran from November 2018 to February 2019. This sought views on the effectiveness of the current regulations and whether further regulation was required.

In a Written Ministerial Statement made on 22 July 2019, the Department set out its initial response to the call for evidence. This included a commitment to taking forward work to make it mandatory for private enforcement agents to use body-worn cameras and to provide guidance about their use. The Department also said that we would consider further how regulation of the sector might be strengthened but we are clear that any further regulation must be effective, proportionate and sustainable.

We will respond in full to the call for evidence in due course.