Councillor MC Voisey to the Deputy Leader

How many court actions, (fines, attachment to earnings orders etc.) and the use of bailiffs have BCBC used in the last 12 months to recover unpaid council tax, and how much has been recovered in such actions?

Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help

Evidence has emerged during the Pandemic that health professionals from ethnic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by COVID – 19.

Could the Cabinet Member assure us that all health professionals working in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Authority including our Care Homes had their risk assessments as a precautionary measure including their ethnicity as a risk factor, along with age, weight, underlying health conditions, disability and pregnancy, and what have we learned?

Question from Councillor MC Voisey to the Deputy Leader

"How many court actions, fines, attachment to earnings orders etc.) and the use of bailiffs have BCBC used in the last 12 months to recover unpaid council tax, and how much has been recovered in such actions?"

Response of the Deputy Leader:

Council Tax is payable on all domestic dwellings in the borough and is payable as of 1st April each year. However everyone is given the option to pay by way of 10 or 12 monthly instalments. If an instalment is missed then a reminder notice is issued requesting payment and the recovery process commenced. The process was summarised in the form of a flow chart. 

Once a final notice is issued the council tax payer loses the right to pay by instalments and the full outstanding balance for the year becomes payable.

•           If full payment is received then no further action is taken

•           If part or no payment is received then a summons is received and costs incurred for the outstanding balance

Once a summons is issued the council tax payer loses the right to pay by instalments and the full outstanding balance for the year becomes payable

•           If full payment is received including costs before the court date then no further action is taken

•           If part payment is received before the court date then a Liability Order is obtained from the Magistrates Court for the remaining balance

•           If no payment is received before the court date then a Liability Order is obtained from the Magistrates Court for the outstanding balance

Currently once a liability order is obtained from the Magistrates Court the following courses of action are available to us in order to recover the Council Tax outstanding debt:-

Course of Action                  Comments

Office agreement                   If someone enters into an agreement and payments continue to be paid then no further action is taken. However if an agreement is broken then initially they receive a letter asking them to bring their agreement up to date. If this is not done then an alternative method of recovery is taken which could involve any of the other methods available depending on what information is held on the particular account.

Attachment to earnings           This is where the outstanding balance is collected via a person’s earnings at source based on their net income. Only 2 attachment of earnings can be running at one time. Central government stipulate the amount to be deducted by the employer and will continue until the debt is paid in full or the employee leaves employment. The employer is then responsible for forwarding any deductions directly to us in order to clear the debt.  If a person leaves employment then a letter is sent asking them to contact us to make alternative arrangements to clear the debt. However if no contact is received and no alternative method available the debt may be passed to enforcement agents for collection where further costs will be incurred. 

Attachment to benefits            This is where the outstanding balance is deducted from a person’s benefit at source. However it is only possible to make these deductions from certain benefits and the amount deducted is set by central government depending on the benefit the person is in receipt of and only 1 attachment to benefits can run at any time. Due to the fact that a person in receipt of benefits is on a low income the deduction amounts are relatively low so a debt takes a considerable time to be paid off. If a person is no longer in receipt of a benefit that can be attached to then a letter is sent requesting they contact us to make alternative arrangements. However if no contact is received and no alternative method available, depending on the value of the outstanding balance, the debt may be passed to enforcement agents for collection where further costs will be incurred.

Taking control of goods    

via enforcement agents     The use of enforcement agents is usually the last resort when no other alternative method of recovery is available to us. Once a debt is passed to the enforcement agents an initial letter is sent to the debtor. At this point a charge of £75 is incurred, however the debtor can now make an arrangement with the enforcement agents to clear the debt without them having to visit the property.  As long as this arrangement is kept and the debt paid in full then no further action is taken and the enforcement agent would not have to visit the property. If however the letter is ignored then an enforcement agent would visit the property with the view to collecting the full outstanding balance, at which point an extra charge of £235 becomes payable. There may also be an extra fee payable depending on the value of the debt. Note, the fee structure has been set in legislation under the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 – The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 - and are therefore not negotiable.

Charging Order                       If a debt has been returned from the enforcement agents as they were unable to collect it, then if the property is owned by the debtor a charging order may be placed on the property if the debt outstanding on that property is over £1000. This requires the Legal section of the Council to request an interim charging order from the County Court. The legal section then write to the debtor advising them that the interim charge has been obtained and of the date the final charge will be requested unless paid in full.  If the debt is paid in full along with the legal costs incurred then no further action taken. If the debt is not paid in full then the final charge is requested from the court and registered against the property on land registry. Only when the debt is paid in full including any costs incurred, will the charge be removed from the land registry records. This type of recovery action is only used in very limited cases and is effective when a property is being sold as the new owners do not want to buy a property with a charge on it. If the property is empty then the Council may apply to the court for an order of sale.

Bankruptcy                             This form of recovery action can only be used if the council tax debt outstanding is over £5,000 and would only be used if the assets of the council tax payer would be in excess of the amount owed. A bankruptcy hearing will be arranged for the County Court which every effect should be made to attend.

Prior to 1 April 2019 the threat of imprisonment coerced council tax payers into paying their charge however since 1 April 2019 the sanction of Committal for non-payment of Council tax has been removed making it more difficult to collect debt from problem debtors. However where committal proceedings have commenced prior to 1 April 2019 these can continue to be dealt with.

One council tax payer could have numerous liability orders with a debt outstanding on each relating to numerous years.    

One liability order could start to be collected via an attachment to earnings, however the debtor then becomes unemployed and makes an office agreement, they then fail to keep to the terms of the agreement and the debt passes to the enforcement agents. This shows that an individual liability order can have numerous methods of recovery taken in order to collect the debt outstanding and could take years to be collected in full.  

We have many council tax accounts where we are collecting debts on more than one liability order at any one time, each one being collected by a different method of recovery. This could also be in conjunction with the current year’s instalments. 

The revenues ICT system we use does not lend itself to providing a breakdown of how much has been collected via each recovery method as each liability order could potentially have had several different recovery methods used over a course of time with part payment from each method of recovery .

Also it is not possible to identify payments made in relation to attachment of earnings via the cash receipting system used by the council.   

This authority has always tried to maximise the collection of debt and will only send debt  to the enforcement agents as the last resort as we try to avoid as further costs being incurred by the debtor.

A Table showing the number of liability orders obtained from the Court in the 2018/19 financial year and for 2019/20 to date was outlined. It also includes the number and value of accounts sent to the enforcements agents for the same period along with the income received from them during the same period. However the amount received for a period of time does not necessarily relate to the accounts sent during the same period as they could be for debts sent in previous years.

Attachment of earnings and enforcement agency could relate to debts from previous years, and not solely those for which Liability Orders have been obtained during the year. They could also be sent for the same recovery method more than once in a year: e.g. a debt may be sent to the enforcement agents who may then return it to us as they cannot trace the debtor. If we then locate a forwarding address the debt may be sent back to them for the same liability order. Hence one liability order will show as 2 liability orders sent to the enforcement agents. Likewise If an attachment to earnings is sent and the person leaves that particular employer but starts employment elsewhere a new attachment of earnings will be sent to the new employer hence showing again as one liability order with 2 attachment to earnings.

Currently the in-year council tax collection rate stands at 95.1% which equates to a total of   £78,993,469.70 being collected to date this financial year and the arrears collection for previous years currently stands at 31.6% which equates to a reduction in the arrears total compared to the start of the year of £1,808,042.17.

The revenues section is looking to make system improvements in the new financial year as part of the automation/digitalisation programme in order to improve efficiency and collection.  With these modules the revenues section will be able to automate more of the current manual processes which will free up time in order for the service to be able to focus on the recovery of the more difficult and time consuming outstanding debts. The quicker the process the more likelihood of collecting the debt. This automation of processes will result in faster response times and engagement with customers, improved collection rates and income for the Council as a whole.

Councillor Voisey in his supplementary question asked what action the Council will take to improve the collection rate of Council Tax where residents will not pay Council Tax.  The Deputy Leader informed Council that the number where the Council fails to get a response from residents and summons residents who will not pay Council Tax is low.  He stated that offices will work towards achieving a 98% collection rate.  The Section 151 Officer informed Council that she would inform Members of the collection rate of Council Tax at year end.  

A member of Council questioned the positive impact of the removal of Council Tax on empty properties.  The Deputy Leader informed Council that the removal of Council tax had enabled 866 previously empty properties to be brought back into use.  The construction of new properties in the Borough had generated an additional £1.5m in Council Tax.    

A member of Council referred to the furlough scheme coming to an end and asked whether data modelling exercises could be carried linking Council Tax records with credit reference agencies in order to assist residents who may experience hardship in paying Council Tax.  The Deputy Leader stated that he would be happy to look at this.  He stated that collection rates will affect authorities across Wales and he was grateful for the support provided by the Welsh Government. 

Question from Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help

Evidence has emerged during the Pandemic that health professional from ethnic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by COVID – 19.

Could the Cabinet Member assure us that all health professionals working in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Authority including our Care Homes had their risk assessments as a precautionary measure including their ethnicity as a risk factor, along with age, weight, underlying health conditions, disability and pregnancy, and what have we learned?

Response of the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help

The Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board have been using a standard risk assessment tool which has been made available to all staff. The risk assessment tool has been targeted at BAME staff and where a risk has been identified then managers adjust the workplace or the working pattern or if it is not clear then a referral is made to Occupational Health. If Cllr Hussain has a specific concern about an individual or a local setting then I will be happy to receive that referral and will direct it to the appropriate health professional.

Bridgend County Borough Council has developed a workforce risk assessment to support staff in work and to ensure that any staff member who has been away from work can return to work safely and that any necessary adjustments can be made. In addition the Council have been running infection control training throughout the pandemic and places have been prioritised for BAME staff. Environmental Health, the Health Board and CIW have also been supporting the Care Sector in infection control.

Councillor Hussain in his supplementary question referred to the workforce risk assessment and asked whether lessons had been learnt and when would the report be available.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help informed Council that the toolkit which has been introduced and had initially focused on health and social care employees working in a clinical setting.  This has now been revised by the Welsh Government and can now be used in any workplace, and the Council and Health Board have been reviewing the toolkit and introducing a scoring matrix to support employees to return to their duties.  As toolkits are being progressed more widely, the Cabinet Member stated that he would find out when the report will be available. 

A member asked a supplementary question in relation to the recent staff survey and whether he was satisfied that all staff who had identified as BAME had done so.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help informed Council that he was pleased with the response that BAME had identified themselves in the survey and he would send a copy of the report to Members. 

A member asked a supplementary question in relation to encouraging partners to use the toolkit.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help informed Council that the toolkit was now being used more widely and had been developed with the trade unions who had agreed the process for members of staff completing the toolkits.  He stated that Cwm Taf Health Board are at the forefront regarding BAME and the risks not only to BAME staff but to BAME residents.