Agenda item

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to review the information provided on Council Tax collection, recovery and enforcement.

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 25 to 102 of the agenda, which provided an overview of the Council’s Council Tax recovery, collection and enforcement processes. This report had been requested by the Committee as part of its ongoing review on the impact from the cost of living crisis.

Prior to the meeting, the Committee had held a community meeting with residents and representatives from the community & voluntary sector to discuss their experience with Council Tax enforcement. A summary of this meeting can be found appended to the main report. Rhiannon Hughes, Community Engagement Manager, from the South West London Law Centre, attended the meeting to provide further insight into the experience of residents and a representation was made by Claire Keetch, the Manager of the Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau which was read out at the meeting. These representations set out a range of specific actions that could be implemented by the Council to support residents who had fallen into Council Tax arrears and highlighted the importance of the advocacy provided to residents by their respective services.

The Committee put on record its thanks to the two organisations for their support in arranging the community meeting and for the insight their representations had added to the meeting. It was agreed that the Committee would recommend that a formal response is provided by the Council to the issues raised in the respective representations.

Following these representations, the Head of Payments, Revenues, Benefits & Debt, Catherine Black, introduced the report and provided an initial response to the issues raised at the community meeting. During the introduction, the following was noted: -

·         The team had been in contact with the CAB and SWLLC following the community meeting to begin engagement meetings with them.

·         The information on the Council’s website was being updated to provide clear timelines and diagrams on the collection process. The information relating to residents’ rights and potential discounts was being reviewed and updated as needed.

·         A document had been prepared for staff providing comprehensive guidance about where to signpost people in need of support for a range of issues including welfare and debt advice, and mental health support. Refresher training had also been delivered to staff on where to signpost residents for debt support.

·         Officers would be reviewing the vulnerability policy for Council Tax collections and providing training, with input due to be sought from CAB and SWLLC to inform this process.

·         A new telephony system had recently been installed across the Council with early indications, from a significantly reduced call abandon rate, demonstrating that the new system was making it easier for residents to contact the Council.

·         Staff had been given training on how to translate the Council’s web pages in to other languages, which could be sent to residents. The team was also working with the Croydon Digital Service team on adding translation capability for users to the website.

·         A reminder had been sent to all enforcement agents about adhering to the Council’s code of conduct, which had been updated to take account of the cost of living crisis. It was highlighted that every agent wore a camera and the footage was available upon request if there were reports of poor behaviour.

·         The enforcement agencies contracted by the Council used a RAG rating system to identify vulnerable residents, which was used to guide the approach taken. Most of the agencies had a welfare support team and if agents identified a potentially vulnerable resident, they would be referred to this team.

·         It was being found that payment arrangements were increasingly being made for lower payment amounts over longer periods of time, which may be a result of the cost of living crisis.

·         Enforcement agents had a fund that could be applied for to provide support with arrears and food parcels if needed.

Following the introduction, the Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions about the information provided in the report, which was informed by the feedback given at the community meeting. The first question asked whether teams across the Council were collaborating effectively to support residents with multiple needs. It was advised that teams did work together to provide a joined up response, with work between the Council Tax and Housing teams highlighted as an example. The Committee agreed that as part of the wider governance improvement work of the Council, further consideration needed to be given to how it could be evidenced that teams were working effectively to support.

In response to a question about face to face appointments for residents wanting to discuss their arrears, it was confirmed that these could be facilitated if needed. It was also suggested that it may be useful for advocacy groups such as the CAB and SWLLC to have a means of contacting the Council Tax team directly given the number of residents they supported.

Following concerns raised by residents at the community meeting about the clarity of the written correspondence received from the Council about their arrears, it was questioned whether letters had been reviewed in terms of literacy. It was confirmed that correspondence had not been reviewed. The Committee agreed it would recommend that correspondence was reviewed as it was important to ensure residents were able to understand the process and what action they needed to take to avoid unnecessary escalation.

It was confirmed that two complaints had been received about enforcement agents since December 2021, one of which was upheld and neither of which related to the internal enforcement team. The Committee suggested that as part of the work to review the information provided on the Council’s website, it would be helpful to have the complaints process clearly signposted. It was also suggested that there needed to be clear signposting to information on areas of support available such as how to access hardship funds.

It was confirmed that since the introduction of the new Council Tax Support Scheme in April 2022, the Council did not instigate enforcement action against residents in receipt of Council Tax Support. Following on from this, it was noted that the wording of the ‘taking control of goods’ letter sent to residents regarding enforcement was written following legislative requirements. Given that alternatives to the seizure of goods were sought in the first instance, it was suggested that the potential for further explaining the process alongside the legislative wording of this letter should be explored. It was also suggested that local MPs could be contacted about championing changes to the legislative wording in Parliament, along with changing the law preventing payment arrangements being reached following the issue of a summons.

In response to a question about whether the enforcement agencies contracted by the Council had set targets., it was confirmed that there were soft targets in place. The main driver for the agencies was to reach payment arrangements for the arrears, even if this involved smaller payments over longer terms and enforcement visits were the last option. It was also confirmed that there was no minimum amount for repayment.

It was questioned why the Council used six external enforcement agencies and whether this was comparable to other boroughs. It was confirmed that six agencies were used as the service was combined with parking enforcement, which required that number of agencies. The services were beginning to look at future options for enforcements once the current contract ended.

It was confirmed that the key performance indicators for the service were currently under review. The Committee agreed that in order to contribute to the wider understanding of the Council’s financial position at any given time and to provide reassurance about the experience of residents any indicators needed to be a mix of qualitative and quantative.

At the conclusion of this item the Chair thanked the officers, residents and external partners for their engagement with the Committee.

Conclusions

At the end of the item the members of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee reached the following conclusions:-

1.    The Committee thanked the South West London Law Centre and the Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau for their support in helping the Committee to prepare for this item, through convening a community meeting to hear directly from residents about their experience of Council Tax Enforcement. The Committee also welcomed the submissions put forward from these organisations and would request that a formal response is provided by the Administration addressing the issues raised.

2.    The Committee would also like to put on record its thanks to the Head of Payments, Revenue, Benefits and Debt, Katherine Black, and her team for their engagement with the scrutiny process. The sensitivity displayed at the community meeting to the often upsetting evidence provided was commendable and their subsequent response to address the issues raised should be held up as an example of best practice.

3.    From its review of Council Tax enforcement, the Committee identified that a relatively cost effective means of improving the service would be to review the wording of correspondence sent to residents in Council Tax arrears, as the feedback received at the community meeting would suggest that it could be misinterpreted as being more final than the Council’s collection processes actual were.

4.    Similarly, the Committee would recommend that information provided on the Council’s website is also reviewed to ensure that it was accessible for a range of literacy levels and prominently displayed the support and advice that was available for residents facing financial difficulty.

5.    The Committee was keen to seek further evidence that Council services worked together to support residents with multiple needs. It was agreed that there needed to be a mechanism in place that would demonstrate to all Members that services cooperated effectively for the benefit of residents.

Recommendations

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to make the following recommendations for the consideration of the Mayor in Cabinet.

1.    That a formal Administration response is provided to submissions of the South West London Law Centre and the Croydon CAB made at the Scrutiny & Overview Committee meeting, addressing the issues raised in these submissions.

2.    That officers are asked to review the literacy of formal communication with residents to ensure they meet best practice in terms of accessibility.

3.    That officers are asked to review and, subject to national requirements, amend the wording on the Taking Control of Good Notices, to ensure they reflect the Council’s own approach to enforcement.

4.    That the Cabinet Member for Finance writes jointly to all three Croydon MPs asking them to: -

a.  Champion in Parliament changing the legislated wording of the ‘Taking Control of Goods Notices’ and

b.  Champion in Parliament changing the legislation around enforcement, including the requirement preventing pay arrangements being reached following a summons being issued.

5.    That when they are next reviewed, officers are asked to ensure that the key performance indicators for Council Tax service present both a quantitative and qualitative overview.

6.    That officers are asked to review the Council’s website to ensure that:

a) residents’ rights are clearly set out, including how to make a complaint,

b) that advice and hardship services are signposted and

c)  the criteria for funds, such as the Hardship Fund, are clearly explained.

7.    As part of the wider improvement journey of the Council, consideration is given to the evidence that can be provided to reassure Members that there is improved collaboration across services to support residents with multiple needs.