Council use of enforcement agencies for debt-collecting

Helen Hoddinott made this Freedom of Information request to Guildford Borough Council as part of a batch sent to 369 authorities Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

The request was successful.

To whom it may concern,

I would please like to request the following information:

1) In the financial years 21/22, 22/23 and 23/24 (Up to 07.02.24), could you please provide me with the total monetary value of council-related debts (such as council tax, parking fines, failures to pay business rates and housing arrears) which were referred to external enforcement agencies?

2) Of this figure, please could you provide the amount that was recovered by external debt agencies broken down for each of the financial years referenced?

3) For each of those financial years, please provide the number of complaints the council has received about the conduct of external bailiffs and debt collectors.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at [email address] should any aspect of my request require clarification.

Yours faithfully, and many thanks,

Helen Hoddinott

IRO, Guildford Borough Council

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References

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FOI, Guildford Borough Council

Our ref: FOI2024/00222

Dear Helen Hoddinott,

Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 7th
February. We are dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. If you requested environmental information, we will
also take into account the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

We must usually provide a full response to requests within 20 working days
unless the request is very complex or if we must carry out a public
interest test (in such cases we may extend the response deadline).
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Yours sincerely,
Customer Services

FOI, Guildford Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Helen Hoddinott,

Attached is the response to your recent request for information.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Mynett