Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information regarding council tax arrears in your jurisdiction.

1. Total Number of Council Tax Arrears Cases
a) Please provide the total number of council tax accounts that are currently in arrears as of the date of this request, regardless of whether they have been referred for legal recovery.
There are 4385 Council Tax accounts in arrears. The data for this question was produced on 17th September 2024.
b) Additionally, please provide the total amount of council tax owed across all accounts in arrears identified in part 1a.
The total amount of these 4385 accounts is £7,659,254.50. The data for this question was produced on 17th September 2024.

2. Top Three Largest Council Tax Arrears by Individual Accounts Please provide the top three biggest outstanding council tax arrears owed by account holders as of the date of this request. For each of the three cases, please include:
o The arrears amount
o The length of time since the debt was first referred to recovery or legal action o The first three digits of the postcode where the account is registered (or, if the area is sparsely populated, the first two digits; if this would still be too revealing of personal data, I'm happy for you to omit this part of the question)
• Account 1: The amount of arrears outstanding was £33,030.52. The first legal action for this debt took place on 19th August 2016 and the first part of the postcode is RG40.
• Account 2: The amount of arrears outstanding was £26,715.50. The first legal action for this debt took place on the 19th June 2012 and the first part of the postcode is RG41.
• Account 3: The amount of arrears outstanding was £23,494.92. The first legal action for this debt took place on the 26th June 2016 and the first part of the postcode is RG40.

3. Referral to Legal Proceedings
How many council tax arrears cases were referred to court for the issuance of liability orders in the financial years a) 2022/23 and b) 2023/24?
• The number of accounts referred to court for the issuance of liability orders in the 2022/23 financial year was 3217.
• The number of accounts referred to court for the issuance of liability orders in the 2023/24 financial year was 3106.

4. Use of Bailiffs
Please provide the number of council tax arrears cases referred to bailiffs for recovery in a) 2022/23 and b) 2023/24.
• The number of Liability Orders referred to Enforcement Agents for recovery in 2022/23 was 3231.
• The number of Liability Orders referred to Enforcement Agents for recovery in 2023/24 was 2189 excluding the 3rd Enforcement Agent trial cases. Including these cases the total number is 3089.