Council Tax Collection enforcement - Cities and urban areas

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir / madam

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide the following records for the years 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19:

1. The number of cases of council tax debt which have been passed to external enforcement agencies and the overall amount of council tax which was owed (just in relation to the cases which were passed to the agencies)

2. In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI cost limit, please provide the overall amount of council tax debt recovered by agencies

3. In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI cost limit, please provide for each of the periods 2017/18 and 2018/19 the names of enforcement agencies employed by the council. (If multiple, please detail % split of cases allocated).

4. In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI cost limit, please provide for each of the periods 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19, the number of complaints received by the council arising from allegations about the actions of bailiffs and debt collectors employed by the council.

Yours faithfully
Ben Quinn

Freedom Of Information Requests Mailbox, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

Acknowledgement: FOI 15301

Thank you for your request for information. We are dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We have passed your request to relevant colleagues who will respond within 20 working days starting the working day after receipt of your request.

Regards
Freedom of Information Team

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Blades, Denise, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

Dear Ben Quinn

Thank you for your freedom of information request to Newcastle City
Council reference 15301.  Your request and our response is shown below.

1.    The number of cases of council tax debt which have been passed to
external enforcement agencies and the overall amount of council tax which
was owed (just in relation to the cases which were passed to the agencies)

This information is currently unavailable as the contract for external
enforcement agents is out to procurement and therefore commercially
sensitive.

2.    In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI
cost limit, please provide the overall amount of council tax debt
recovered by agencies

This information is currently unavailable as the contract for external
enforcement agents is out to procurement and therefore commercially
sensitive.

3.    In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI
cost limit, please provide for each of the periods 2017/18 and 2018/19 the
names of enforcement agencies employed by the council. (If multiple,
please detail % split of cases allocated).

In 2017-18 and 2018-19 the external providers were Equita; Jacobs &
Marstons.  The number of cases for each provider is commercially sensitive
and therefore not available.

4.    In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI
cost limit, please provide for each of the periods 2016/17, 2017/18 and
2018/19, the number of complaints received by the council arising from
allegations about the actions of bailiffs and debt collectors employed by
the council.

The Council received no complaints in 2016/17; 2017/18 and 2018/19.

If you are unhappy with our response to your request you can ask for an
internal review of our decision.  Please send details of your request for
review to the following address:

Information Governance Coordinator
Newcastle City Council, Room 17, Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1
8QH

Phone: 0191 277 7666

Email: [1][Newcastle City Council request email]

If you are still unhappy with how we have handled your request following
our internal review you can complain to the Information Commissioner. 
Contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [2][email address]

Kindest regards

Denise Blades IRRV (Tech)

Business Support Specialist
               
Revenues and Benefits                     

Newcastle City Council     

                       

Phone (External):        +44 0191 278 7878

Phone (Internal):          28896
Email:                             [3][email address]

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Revenues & Benefits Phone Lines are changing

If you need to ask about Council Tax, Housing Benefits, Blue Badges,
Business Rates or Sundry Debt you will need to [4]go online to contact us,
make a claim or check your account or benefit entitlement

If you need to phone us our lines will be open:

Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 8am to 6pm and Friday from 8am to 4.30pm

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References

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4. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/

Dear Blades, Denise,

I wish to request an internal review of this decision. Details sought have been supplied by more than one hundred other local authorities in answer to an identical FOI request

Yours sincerely,

Ben Quinn

Freedom Of Information Requests Mailbox, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

Dear Ben

Following your request for an Internal Review. We have spoken with the service area involved and they have confirmed that at the time the request was received the contract for external enforcement agents was still out procurement therefore the information requested was commercially sensitive. This procurement period has now ended therefore we can release the information.

Please find below the details that were originally requested and can now be disclosed as the procurement process has ended.

1. The number of cases of council tax debt which have been passed to external enforcement agencies and the overall amount of council tax which was owed (just in relation to the cases which were passed to the agencies)

2015/16 8,365 referrals for £4,685,745
2016/17 5,503 referrals for £2,806,366
2017/18 5,685 referrals for £3,685,606
2018/19 4,413 referrals for £2,615,598

2. In addition to the above, if it is possible to do so within the FOI cost limit, please provide the overall amount of council tax debt recovered by agencies

This information has been classified as commercially sensitive by the service and is therefore exempt under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act. In order to obtain this information, we would suggest that you contact the agencies directly.

Answers to Q3 and Q4 were provided in the original request.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your request following our internal review you can complain to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [email address]

Kind Regards
Freedom of Information
Newcastle City Council

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