FOI release

Freedom of Information request 180925 - council tax arrears letters

Case reference FOI2025/00773

Received 18 September 2025

Published 8 October 2025

Request

We are conducting some research into council tax debt collection and as such I am making a Freedom of Information Request.

In more detail, I ask that you please provide by email copies of the standard template letters or digital communications your council issues to residents in relation to Council Tax arrears, specifically:

  1. The initial reminder notice issued as part of the arrears or recovery process, as per requirements under Regulation 23 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

  2. The second reminder notice, issued in the event that a resident has rectified one missed instalment but gone on to miss a second instalment over a given annual period.

  3. The final notice issued once the resident has lost the right to pay by instalments and prior to any further enforcement action, as per requirements under Regulation 33 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

  4. Any additional reminder notices or discretionary communications issued to residents with Council Tax arrears, including between the first reminder notice and final notice being issued (prior to a court summons).

For each, please include:

  • The full wording of the standard template

  • Any headers, footers, or formatting used in the letter or digital communications

  • The typical method of delivery (e.g. post, email)

  • Any differences in the templates based on resident circumstances (e.g. prior arrears, benefits status, vulnerability)

In addition, please can you inform us of:

  1. The total number of households against which you started imprisonment committal proceedings relating to unpaid council tax, for each year from 2020.

Response

Please find the attached documents covering questions 1-3 attached.

4) There are no other letters issued prior to a summons. The typical method of delivery is Royal Mail 2nd class post.

5)

2020-2021 = 0

2021-2022 = 0

2022-2023 = 0

2023-2024 = 0

2024-2025 = 0

Documents

This is South Derbyshire District Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.