§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of local authorities for giving advice to community charge payers who do not pay their charge in full on how to handle bailiffs when they visit their home;
(2) what information he has on the number of local authorities issuing guidance to community charge payers on dealing with bailiffs who call to recover unpaid community charge.
§ Mr. KeyThere is no requirement on local authorities to inform community chargepayers about their rights when bailiffs visit their home and we have no information on the number of authorities who issue guidance on this. The majority of local authorities do have, however, a code of practice which governs the way their bailiffs undertake distress action.