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2022/23

Research by the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, and the Centre for Social Justice shows that local authorities in England and Wales referred 2.7 million debts to bailiffs in 2022/23.

Use the map to select your local authority. If you are a councillor or council officer, read the Money Advice Trust’s six steps for improving debt collection practices and let us know if you are interested in finding out more.

If you need help with debt, seek free advice from National Debtline or Business Debtline.

Get the data Six steps for local authorities Read the Centre for Social Justice report

Data Archive View the data we’ve collected over the years.

© Money Advice Trust 2024. Charity no. 1099506. Company Limited by Guarantee no. 4741583. Registered office: 21 Garlick Hill, London EC4V 2AU. The Money Advice Trust is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

2022/23

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Bailiff Use
Local authorities referred 2.71 million debts to bailiffs in 2022/23 - broadly unchanged on pre-pandemic levels (2.65 million in 2018/19)
- decreased since 2018/19
- no comparison available
- increased since 2018/19
Signposting
98% of councils signpost residents in financial difficulty to free debt advice.
- Signposts residents to free debt advice
SFS or CFS
17% of councils told us they had adopted the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) – formerly known as the Common Financial Statement.
- Has adopted the Standard (or Common) Financial Statement
- Considering adopting
Vulnerability Policy
48% of councils have a formal policy in place for dealing with residents in vulnerable circumstances.
- Has a formal vulnerability policy in place
- Considering adopting
Exempt CTS
Just 10% of councils have a policy of exempting recipients of Council Tax Support (CTS) from bailiff action.
- Has a policy of exempting Council Tax Support recipients from bailiff action
Council Tax Protocol
31% of councils told us they have adopted the Citizens Advice / LGA Council Tax Protocol.
- Has adopted the Citizens Advice/LGA Council Tax Protocol
- Considering adopting
Pre-LO steps
88% of councils take a least one step before seeking a liability order (LO) against a resident for council tax debt. For example, referring to free debt advice, referring to income maximisation support, referring to council tax support scheme, checking whether someone is in vulnerable circumstances, or assessing someone’s income and expenditure.
- Takes at least one step pre-liability order

Data Archive View the data we’ve collected over the years.

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Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions govern your use of: the Stop The Knock website, www.stoptheknock.org (the “Charity Site”) which is run by Money Advice Trust (the “Charity”, “we” or “us”).

Please read them carefully as they affect your rights and liabilities under the law. If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, please do not register for any part of or use the Charity Site.

1. Use of the Charity Site

1.1 The Charity Site is provided to you solely for general information purposes only and is subject to these Terms and Conditions. By using the Charity Site you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. References to these Terms and Conditions include the Privacy Policy.

2. Amendments

2.1 We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time for legal or regulatory reasons or to allow the proper operation of the Charity Site. Any changes will be notified via a suitable announcement on the Charity Site. The changes will apply to the use of the Charity Site after we have given notice. If you do not wish to accept the new Terms and Conditions you should not continue to use the Charity Site. If you continue to use the Charity Site after the date on which the change comes into effect, your use of the Charity Site indicates your agreement to be bound by the new Terms and Conditions.

3. Stop The Knock research

3.1 The Charity Site has been created to showcase the findings of the Money Advice Trust and Centre for Social Justice’s research on local authority bailiff use in England and Wales in 2022/23. This research is based on the results of Freedom of Information (FOI) Act requests made to all local authorities in England and Wales during November 2023.

3.2. Where a local authority complied with the FOI request within the research timeframe – which in all cases, was longer than the statutory timeframe laid out in the Freedom of Information Act – the data it provided is displayed on pop-up windows on the embedded Google Map, and in the downloadable data provided as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Where a local authority did not comply with the FOI request within the research timeframe, a message is displayed to state the fact no data is available because the authority did not respond to the FOI request by the time of publication.

3.3. Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the data collected from FOI requests. Where a representative of a local authority may wish to query the accuracy of the data collected, they should do so in writing to policy@moneyadvicetrust.org and their query will be considered. We reserve the right to amend data published on the Charity Site at any time.

3.4. Any citation of the research findings, including the data collected from FOI requests, should be credited to “The Money Advice Trust and Centre for Social Justice’s Stop The Knock research” or words to that effect, with a link to the Stop the Knock website https://www.stoptheknock.org

4. Intellectual property

4.1 The content of the Charity Site is protected by copyright, trade marks and other intellectual property rights.

4.2 Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited except by express agreement with the Charity.

4.3 You may retrieve and display the content on a computer screen, store such content in electronic form on a storage device or print copies of such content for your own use, provided you keep intact all and any copyright and proprietary notices. You may not otherwise reproduce, modify, copy or distribute or use for commercial purposes any of the materials or content on the Charity Site without authorisation from the Charity.

5. Disclaimer

5.1 It is solely your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of all opinions, advice and other information provided through the Charity Site.

5.2 The Charity Site includes links to other web sites or material produced by third parties which are beyond the Charity’s control. The Charity is not responsible for content on any site outside the Charity Site or any content provided by third parties.

5.3 We are not responsible for your use of the Charity Site and whilst we try to ensure that material included on the Charity Site is correct, up to date, reputable and of high quality, we do not make any warranties or guarantees of any kind about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the Charity Site or the information, services or related graphics, or that the information is correct or appropriate to your particular circumstances or the circumstances of those people who you advise. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

5.4 In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use of this Charity Site and to the extent possible in law we exclude all liability in this regard.

6. Availability of the Charity Site

6.1 Although we aim to offer you the best service possible, we make no promise that the information on the Charity Site will meet your requirements or help you to reduce your debts. We cannot guarantee that the services will be fault-free or available at all times. If a fault occurs with the Charity Site you should report it to contactus@moneyadvicetrust.org and we will attempt to correct the fault as soon as we reasonably can.

6.2 Your access to the Charity Site may be occasionally restricted to allow for repairs, maintenance or the introduction of new facilities or services. We will attempt to restore the service as soon as we reasonably can.

7. Applicable Law

7.1 The Charity Site is intended for use within the United Kingdom. These Terms and Conditions will be subject to the laws of England and Wales. We will try to resolve any disagreements quickly and efficiently. If you are not happy with the way we deal with any disagreement and you want to take court proceedings, you must do so within England and Wales.

8. International Use

8.1 We make no promise that materials on the Charity Site are appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United Kingdom, and accessing the Charity Site from territories where its contents are illegal or unlawful is prohibited. If you choose to access the Charity Site from locations outside the United Kingdom, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

9. Miscellaneous

9.1 If you breach these Terms and Conditions and the Charity chooses to ignore this, the Charity will still be entitled to use its rights and remedies at a later date or in any other situation where you breach the Terms and Conditions.

9.2 The Charity shall not be responsible for any breach of these Terms and Conditions caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

9.3 The Charity Site is owned and operated by Money Advice Trust, 21 Garlick Hill, London EC4V 2AU.

9.4 If you have any queries please contact contactus@moneyadvicetrust.org.

Key

Bailiff Use - displays local authorities where bailiff use has increased, has decreased, or is unchanged compared to 2018/19.

Signposting - displays local authorities that signpost residents to one or more free debt advice agencies as part of their collections process.

SFS or CFS - displays local authorities that have adopted the Standard Financial Statement as a tool for objectively assessing income and expenditure as part of their collections process.

Vulnerability Policy - displays local authorities that have a policy in place for dealing with residents in vulnerable circumstances as part of their debt collection process.

Exempt CTS - displays local authorities that exempt recipients of Council Tax Support from the use of bailiff action.

Council Tax Protocol - displays local authorities that have adopted the Citizens Advice/Local Government Association Council Tax Protocol.

Pre-LO steps - displays local authorities that take one or more of the following steps before seeking a liability order (LO) against a resident for council tax debt: Referral to free debt advice, referral to income maximisation support, referral to council tax support scheme, checking whether someone is in vulnerable circumstances, assessment of income and expenditure.