Freedom of Information request
Case reference FOI2025/01023
Received 23 November 2025
Published 22 December 2025
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information relating to Council Tax liabilities for the financial year 2024/25.
For clarity: this request refers to all Council Tax accounts where liability fell within the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, regardless of when the bill was issued.
Please include all accounts where liability covered the whole financial year or any part of the financial year, including part-year tenancies and mid-year changes of liability.
1. Council Tax enforcement actions
a. Number of summonses issued for non-payment of council tax b. Number of Liability Orders granted by magistrates for non-payment of council tax c. Number of cases referred to enforcement agents (bailiffs) d. Number of enforcement letters issued by enforcement agents on behalf of the council e. Number of enforcement visits made by enforcement agents on behalf of the council
2. Fees and charges
a. The summons fee charged
b. The Liability Order fee charged
c. A breakdown of how these fees are calculated or determined
3. Enforcement agent firms used
a. The names of all enforcement agent companies used by the council for council tax collection, recovery, and enforcement during 2024/25
(Please note: I am requesting only the names of the enforcement firms, not contract values or commercially sensitive information.)
4. Households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) a. Number of cases referred to enforcement agents where the household was in receipt of CTR b. Number of Liability Orders granted where the household was in receipt of CTR c. For Liability Orders involving households on CTR, a split by:
Working-age households
Pension-age households
5. Attachment of Benefits and Attachment of Earnings a. Number of Attachment of Benefits (AoB) requests sent to DWP (e.g., UC or legacy benefits) b. Total value of the debt included in AoB requests (regardless of deductions taken) c. Number of Attachment of Earnings Orders (AoEOs) issued d. Total value of the debt included in AoEOs e. Number of households subject to AoEOs who were in receipt of CTR
Please provide the data in either Excel or CSV.
If any part of the request exceeds the cost limit, please provide the information that can be supplied within the limit, rather than refusing the request in full.
Response
Freedom of Information Request – Council Tax Enforcement
1. Council Tax Enforcement Actions
a. Number of summonses issued for non-payment of council tax:
3,540
b. Number of Liability Orders granted by magistrates for non-payment of council tax:
2,733
c. Number of cases referred to enforcement agents (bailiffs):
777
d. Number of enforcement letters issued by enforcement agents on behalf of the council:
The council does not hold this information in a readily retrievable or reportable format. Information relating to enforcement letters is recorded only within individual case notes rather than as structured or searchable data. To obtain this information would require a manual review of every individual account referred to enforcement agents. The council estimates that this would exceed the appropriate cost limit set out in section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the request is therefore refused under section 12.
e. Number of enforcement visits made by enforcement agents on behalf of the council:
The council does not hold this information in a readily retrievable or reportable format. Information relating to enforcement visits is recorded only within individual case notes rather than as structured or searchable data. To extract this information would require a manual inspection of every individual account referred to enforcement agents. The council estimates that this would exceed the appropriate cost limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the request is therefore refused under section 12.
2. Fees and Charges
a. Summons fee charged:
£67.50
b. Liability Order fee charged:
£0.00
c. Breakdown of how fees are calculated or determined:
Liability Order costs
-
Production of Liability Orders at £149 per 1,000.
Additional inserts (e.g. enforcement agent fees and financial statements) require this to be multiplied by three.
Cost: £1,341 -
Postage of Liability Orders at £0.78 per item (Royal Mail, pending transfer to an external mail house).
Cost: £2,340
Total Liability Order costs: £3,681
Agreement costs
(Agreements are issued only when a summons is issued and no 14-day letter is sent after court)
-
Production of Agreements at £149 per 1,000.
Cost: £298 -
Postage of Agreements at £0.78 per item (Royal Mail, pending transfer to an external mail house).
Cost: £1,560
Total Agreement costs: £1,858
Direct staff costs (salary and on-costs such as National Insurance and pensions)
(Pre-court activity only, up to the hearing date; excludes post-Liability Order work)
-
3 Recovery Officers: £22,047.12
-
1 Manager, 4 Billing Officers, 1 Apprentice: £72,301.04
-
Collection and Enforcement Manager: £32,068.41
-
12 Customer Service staff (2 SO1, 10 Grade 5) at 10% allocation to summons work: £103,636.42
Total direct staff costs: £230,052.99
3. Enforcement Agent Firms Used
a. Names of enforcement agent companies used during 2024/25:
-
Equita
-
CDER Group
4. Households in Receipt of Council Tax Reduction (CTR)
a. Number of cases referred to enforcement agents where the household was in receipt of CTR:
93
b. Number of Liability Orders granted where the household was in receipt of CTR:
421
c. Breakdown of Liability Orders involving households on CTR:
-
Working-age households: 380
-
Pension-age households: 41
5. Attachments of Benefits and Attachments of Earnings
a. Number of Attachment of Benefits (AoB) requests sent to DWP:
94
b. Total value of the debt included in AoB requests (regardless of deductions taken):
£36,601
c. Number of Attachment of Earnings Orders (AoEOs) issued:
221
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.