Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1357475

registered interest
date	22/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds annual data on the rates of committal proceedings, committal orders and days spent in prison with regard to unpaid Council Tax for the period of 2018-2021.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	53187
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The department does not hold information on how many proceedings have been started.</p><p>Data on the number of committals to prison for Council Tax non-payment since 2018 can be found in the attached table.</p><p>On average (mean) civil prisoners received into custody for non-payment of Council Tax from 2018-2020 spent 25 days in custody.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 22/10/2021 13:51:45 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge attachment 1 file name 2021-10-22 Table for PQ 53187 Council Tax - Committal Orders - 2018 to Jun 21.xlsx title Table
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1328856

registered interest
date	27/05/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were handed down a prison sentence due to non-payment of council tax in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	8547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2021 answer text <p>Non-payment of council tax is not a criminal offence and cannot attract a custodial sentence. However, as a last resort, a magistrates’ court has the option to commit an individual to prison for non-payment.</p><p> </p><p>Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must have issued a “liability order” and the local authority must have (at least) tried and failed to take control of the debtor’s goods and sell them to recover the debt. Councils have additional powers of enforcement under a liability order, including deduction from earnings, deduction from benefit, charging orders on the property, and bankruptcy. If a council applies for committal to prison, the court must inquire into the debtor’s means, and the council must satisfy the court that there is no other effective method of collection and that failure to pay is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison. Where that is the case, courts have the power to remit the debt.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of non-criminal admissions to prison for non-payment of council tax, covering the period 1990 – 2020, can be viewed in Table A2.12 at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/983553/Receptions_2020.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/983553/Receptions_2020.ods</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 11/06/2021 13:32:28 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1199369

registered interest
date	02/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, are currently serving prison sentences for non-payment of council tax.
tabling member printed	Baroness Corston
uin	HL4935
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>As at 30 June 2019 (latest available data) no females and one male were in prison, having been committed to prison for non-payment of council tax.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/06/2020 16:16:37 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	215 label Biography information for Baroness Corston

1144843

registered interest
date	04/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	286630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government does not have any plans to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax. However, committal to prison should only ever be the last resort in the collection of council tax arrears. Magistrates courts can only commit someone to prison for non-payment of council tax where they are satisfied that the failure to pay is due to their wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The number of committal warrants has been decreasing, with 34 issued in England in 2017-18.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall grouped question UIN 286631 question first answered 09/09/2019 12:53:47 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1144845

registered interest
date	04/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to remove the ability to issue a prison sentence for people that have not paid their council tax.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	286631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government does not have any plans to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax. However, committal to prison should only ever be the last resort in the collection of council tax arrears. Magistrates courts can only commit someone to prison for non-payment of council tax where they are satisfied that the failure to pay is due to their wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The number of committal warrants has been decreasing, with 34 issued in England in 2017-18.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall grouped question UIN 286630 question first answered 09/09/2019 12:53:47 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1133202

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the average (a) cost to the public purse of a prison sentence and (b) amount of debt outstanding in cases where people have been sent to prison for council tax non-payment in each year between 2010 and 2018.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	266682
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not centrally hold the information requested.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are the responsible prosecuting body for council tax evasion and hold the relevant information regarding council tax debts.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 266681 266684 266685 266686 266687 266688 266689 266690 question first answered 27/06/2019 12:03:50 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1133204

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many liability orders were granted to local authorities by magistrates in England and Wales for the non-payment of council tax in each year between 2010 and 2018.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	266684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not centrally hold the information requested.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are the responsible prosecuting body for council tax evasion and hold the relevant information regarding council tax debts.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 266681 266682 266685 266686 266687 266688 266689 266690 question first answered 27/06/2019 12:03:50 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1133212

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people who received a custodial sentence for council tax debt were women in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	266691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>The number of women and men admitted to prison for ‘Non-Payment: Community charge / Council Tax’ can be viewed in Table A2.12 at the link below:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods</a></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 25/06/2019 13:47:21 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1131232

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax.
tabling member constituency	Makerfield
tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
uin	263138
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government is currently engaging with a range of stakeholders to consider how to improve council tax collection. Following those discussions, we intend to publish updated guidance on good collection practices, before considering the scope of further reforms. The Government is clear that imprisonment should only ever be the last resort for non-payment of council tax. Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must inquire as to the debtor’s means, and satisfy itself that failure to pay is due to “wilful refusal or culpable neglect”. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:38:21 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1130719

registered interest
date	07/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Council Tax: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to amend The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to prevent people becoming liable for their full annual council tax bill after missing one payment.
tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
tabling member printed	Bambos Charalambous
uin	261539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>My Department is engaging with local authorities and the debt advice sector to improve council tax collection, and to ensure council tax debt collection practices are fair, efficient and compassionate to those in genuine hardship. Following those discussions, we intend to publish updated guidance on good collection practices, before considering the scope for further reforms.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak grouped question UIN 261538 question first answered 13/06/2019 16:32:45 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	4610 label Biography information for Bambos Charalambous