We warmly welcomed the opportunity to respond to this Welsh Government consultation on improving the administration and enforcement of Council Tax in Wales, a key step forward in our campaign for more compassionate collection.
The acceleration of payment liability made possible by the current regulations – which allow councils to demand a household’s full annual bill if they miss one month’s payment – both deepens people’s financial difficulty and adds to the weight of emotional burdens they carry, making it harder to deal with their debt problems.
Two in five (39%) StepChange clients in Wales were in council tax arrears in 2024, at an average amount of £2,067. Too often, clients facing council tax arrears are exposed to severe and harmful debt collection practices, including rapid escalation of activity. It is therefore encouraging to see the Welsh Government position proposed changes to the council tax enforcement framework around fostering earlier engagement and intervention, to prevent people becoming trapped in harmful cycles of spiralling debt.
We strongly agree with the Welsh Government’s proposals to extend the timeline before a local authority can demand the full year’s payment and seek a liability order. This would allow local authorities more time to engage constructively with their residents, to understand their circumstances, provide support and facilitate sustainable arrangements which reflect households’ often complex situations – for example, those which involve multiple debts and additional vulnerable circumstances.
As one client told us, “I think it is ludicrous to ask somebody to pay for their council tax in full if payments are missed. Obviously a person is struggling, so how do they expect them to pay £1000 plus if they can’t afford to pay £100? More compassion and empathy needs to be shown.”
We also support the Welsh Government’s proposal to introduce guidance to accompany the existing Council Tax Protocol, noting that we believe that this should be a statutory document rather than a voluntary initiative – as its own research on understanding the impact of the Protocol has demonstrated the limitations of voluntary codes of practice.
These interventions should come together as a coherent package of reforms, focused not only on the important move to amend collection and enforcement timelines, but also to bring about changes which emphasise preventative and early engagement, as well as raise the bar on the quality of interactions and support.