BAILIFFS

Good Morning,

Thank you for your recent request for information shown below. Council
response is below for questions 1 and 2.

1) Council Tax 9980, Business Rates 165, Housing Benefit Overpayments
1622, 3673 Warrants for parking related debts.

2) Council Tax, Business Rates, Housing Benefit Overpayments, Parking.

Could you clarify for me if for question 3, it is the value of the debt
recovered or the total debt as passed to the bailiffs?

And in question 4, is it the charge to the Council or the fee element in
the amount collected from the debtor?

I hope you find this information of use.
Kind Regards
Jane Corrin
Information Manager
Wirral Council

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1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any
non Commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news
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require our specific permission, may involve licensing and the
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Dear Mr Hutchinson,

I refer to the Freedom of Information request made in your email of 22
March 2010 concerning the bailiff service. Your queries were as follows:-

1) on how many occasions in the twelve month period before your
response to this has Council used the services of a bailiff for the
collection of debt.

2) For the recovery of what nature of debt was the service used?

3) What was the total value of each kind of debt?

4) What was the total charge made by the bailiffs.

Ms Corrin has already provided a response to queries 1 and 2 above. She
also sought clarification of queries 3 and 4. You responded by email on 6
April, indicating that :

In respect to query 3, you have asked the Council to supply, by the
breakdown supplied, the value of the debt recovered by the council and the
total debt as passed to the bailiffs.

In respect of query 4, you have asked the Council to supply, by the
breakdown supplied, the charge to the Council and the fee element in the
amount collected from the debtor.

I refer to queries 3 and 4.I consider that the exemption contained in
Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning commercial
interests applies to the majority of the information sought. The Council
has entered into a contractual relationship with the bailiff service. A
detailed response to question 3 would reveal the collection rates of the
bailiffs, whose activity is conducted in a competitive environment. The
Council has consulted with the bailiff service, which would be affected by
any disclosure. They have indicated that disclosure of the information
requested would harm their commercial interests. Having considered the
matter carefully, I consider that release of the information sought in
Query 3 is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the bailiff
service used by the Council by revealing information of potential
usefulness to its competitors. Having regard to the public interest test,
I consider that disclosing the information sought would be likely to
adversely affect the bargaining position of the Council, during
contractual negotiations which could result in the less effective use of
public money. I therefore consider that the public interest in maintaining
the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

With respect to query 4, the fees charged by bailiffs to debtors are
defined by Council Tax and Business Rates Regulations and are shown on the
attached Schedule. I consider that the charge to the Council made by the
bailiff service is commercially sensitive information. Having consulted
with the bailiff service, they have indicated that , as in respect of
query 3 above, disclosure of the information requested would harm their
commercial interests. Again, having considered the matter carefully, I
consider that release of the information sought (apart from the fee
Schedule) in Query 4 is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of
the bailiff service used by the Council by revealing information of
potential usefulness to its competitors. Having regard to the public
interest test, I consider that disclosing the information sought would be
likely to adversely affect the bargaining position of the Council, during
contractual negotiations which could result in the less effective use of
public money. Contractors would be less likely to bid for such work if
they were aware that their charges were likely to be disclosed .I
therefore consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

You have the right under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
to ask for an internal review of the refusal to the information requested.
Please would you direct any request for an internal review to Mr Surjit
Tour, Head of Legal and Member Services, Department of Law, HR and Asset
Management, Town Hall, Brighton Street, Wallasey, CH44 8ED

You do have the right to complain to the information Commissioner, if you
are dissatisfied with the outcome of any internal review.

whose office is situated at :

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Fax: 01625 524510 [1]www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Rosemary Lyon,

Solicitor,

Wirral Borough Council

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