Dear Sir or Madam,

Please could you supply a copy of your policy on Council Tax
Arrears collection.

For the most recent year for which figures are available, please
could you confirm the following:

1) How many people were in arrears of over £750

Of these, how many have:

a) Liability Orders
b) Statutory Demands
c) Bankruptcy Petitions (applied for by Council)
d) Attachment of Earnings Orders
e) Attachment of Benefits Orders

Please confirm the breakdown between homeowners and tenants for
each of the above

2) What is the average amount owed by people you have made bankrupt
for
a) owner occupiers
b) tenants?

Yours faithfully,

Ian Tyes

[Subject only]

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Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of South Cambridgeshire
District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Policy on Collection
of Council Tax Arrears'.

You must have a policy on collecting arrears of council tax, or if
not please specify exactly which piece of legislation you are
relying on.

Please double check how many people you have made bankrupt in the
last financial year.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

Yours faithfully,

Ian Tyes

Dear Mr Ties,

Thank you for you e-mail in response to our reply to your earlier Freedom
of Information request.

The Council does not have a formal policy for the collection of arrears.

The main legislation governing the collection of council tax arrears can
be found in the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations
1992 Statutory Instrument 613 of 1992, as amended by subsequent
legislation, and the Council undertakes actions to recover unpaid Council
Tax in accordance with these regulations. You may also wish to refer to
the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended, which contains the
general regulatory framework for Council Tax collection.

The council does, however, have appropriate working practices and
procedures in place to ensure that:

- Action to recover unpaid arrears is taken in a timely manner.

- Actions taken are proportionate to the amount outstanding and to the
individual's circumstances.

- Severe remedies such as bankruptcy, a charging order, or application for
committal to prison are only used where other less severe remedies have
proved unsuccessful.

- An appropriately senior officer must give approval to before these
severe remedies can be used, and will only do so after considering the
individual case.

- Residents experiencing financial difficulty are offered advice and
assistance in claiming Council Tax benefit and are signposted to
independent advice agencies such as the CAB.

Further to your request I have check the information provided in respect
of bankruptcy petitions for the 2008/09 financial year. I can confirm that
no petitions were commenced during 2008/09. However, three petitions
commenced during 2007/08 were concluded in early 2008/09 with a
declaration of bankruptcy in each case.

You may wish to be aware that public notices in respect of all bankruptcy
petitions and bankruptcy orders must by law be published in the London
Gazette, and this information is, therefore, in the public realm should
you require any further information.

I hope that this further clarification has adequately answered your
request under the Freedom of Information Act, however my response does not
constitute a formal internal review. If you are still not satisfied with
the response please e-mail David Lord in the Council's Legal Team (e-mail
address above) who will arrange for a formal internal review.
Alternatively, if you simply require any further clarification of any of
the information provided you may wish to telephone me on 01954 713110 and
I will be pleased to assist.

If you intend to publish this response on a web site I will be grateful if
you would first remove any personal information.

Yours sincerely

Lee Phanco

Head of Revenues

South Cambridgeshire District Council

South Cambridgeshire Hall

Cambourne Business Park

Cambourne

Cambridge

CB23 6EA

Telephone: 01954 713110

Fax: 01954 713122

E-mail: [email address]

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