No binding standards for government's own debt collection

Government and councils are consistently found to be the harshest creditors. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 make a full year's bill payable after one missed instalment; councils passed 1.69m debts to bailiffs in 2024/25 (up 14%); half of Money Advice Trust clients with council tax arrears went without food to pay. DWP recovers overpayments by automatic benefit deductions; the NAO found 81% of DWP overpayment debt over 180 days old. The Cabinet Office Fairness Group and Debt Fairness Charter are voluntary; the June 2025 council tax consultation response is still pending; the Enforcement Conduct Board remains non-statutory despite the MoJ's 2025 consultation (only fee reforms took effect May 2026).

Public-sector collection practices would be illegal for FCA-regulated lenders. Aggressive state collection deepens hardship, drives people to illegal lenders, and undermines the government's credibility in demanding fairness from private creditors, while recovering less overall than affordability-based collection.

A package: amend the 1992 council tax regulations (graduated escalation, affordability checks before bailiff referral); statutory licensing of enforcement agents by the Enforcement Conduct Board; binding cross-government debt management standards with an independent adjudicator covering HMRC, DWP and councils.

// State-led: Instrument: amended 1992 council tax regulations plus statutory Enforcement Conduct Board licensing and binding cross-government standards.

The state collects more harshly than a regulated lender could, 1.69 million debts went to bailiffs, clients skip food to pay, and a council-tax consultation response is pending now.