Still collecting dust

This report is about raising council tax collection standards and building on the progress made to do so over the last few years.

In 2021, debt advisers and enforcement agencies – convened by the Centre for Social Justice – came together in partnership to create the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB), a new voluntary oversight body. Since then, the Board has been working towards its goals of raising standards, improving accountability, building a complaints framework and reviewing the extent of vulnerability amongst households referred to enforcement. The pursuit of a fairer collections regime has been a collective endeavour and all parties have committed to making it a success.

Following the launch of the Enforcement Conduct Board, the Ministry of Justice committed to reviewing the option of putting it onto a statutory footing and this review is set to take place no later than November 2024.

In anticipation of this review, we seek to refresh our view of the nature of local government debt collection – where enforcement is the primary means of collection – and the households who fall behind on their council tax. We focus on Council Tax because it is a high value debt that local government collects at scale.