Local Government Finance Bill

Lord Tope Excerpts

Tuesday 16th October 2012 Lords Chamber

I hope that the Minister will see the thrust of these amendments as an attempt to reduce the burgeoning number of defaults, to reduce the administrative burden of unrealistic efforts to reclaim money that cannot and will not be paid, and to reduce unnecessary distress and breakdown of the very poorest people in our communities. Will the Minister give an assurance to the House that the Government will give serious consideration to the issues raised here and bring back their own amendment at Third Reading?

[Lord Tope]

My Lords, I support the thrust of these amendments. I do not imagine that the noble Baroness intends to put it to the vote at this hour. I am not entirely certain that it is appropriate for it to be in the Bill anyway but she certainly raises extremely important issues, which I am quite sure, in a few moments, the Minister will agree with. I would like to endorse that and see how we can take this forward—probably in discussion with the Local Government Association and certainly through issuing good practice. It does not necessarily have to be the Government who do that. The Local Government Association could do that. But these are important issues which need to be addressed.

[Lord Beecham]

I certainly endorse what the noble Lord, Lord Tope, said and support the thrust of the noble Baroness’s amendments. The first is a matter essentially for the local authorities. The second impinges on the role of bailiffs. We had a discussion in the Committee stage of the Crime and Courts Bill when I moved an amendment urging the Government to produce a regulatory system for bailiffs, about which there had been a great deal of controversy. The previous Government had passed the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 which envisaged a code of practice dealing with a whole range of issues, some of which were touched on in the noble Baroness’s Amendment 109ZB.

We were informed in the Committee stage of the Crime and Courts Bill that the consultation period that the Government had initiated about that whole area was ending on 14 May and that conclusions would be reached in the autumn. Well, we are in the autumn—we avoided having a summer in the mean time—and it would be interesting to know how things are going in that respect, although I do not expect the noble Baroness the Minister to know offhand. It seems to me, and it might seem to the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, that it would be sensible to draw the two discussions together, because certainly as far as the role of bailiffs is concerned, clearly critical to Amendment 109ZB, there are also wider implications. I believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, was dealing with this matter, but I think that she may have moved on and it is probably the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, who now has the remit for this. It would be helpful if the Minister could consult with whoever is now dealing with this matter to see what is happening on that front so that we can have a clear indication of the Government’s thinking—I hope before Third Reading, which does not leave a lot of time—so that the noble Baroness might have an opportunity, if necessary, to press something on that occasion. Therefore it would be helpful if the Minister would indicate that she would be prepared to take this issue back, looking at it with the other department and letting noble Lords know how the land lies in respect of bailiffs and enforcement measures generally, but in particular in relation to council tax.