HL Deb 07 January 2003 vol 642 cc192-3WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government

Further to the suicide of Mr Watson living alone in Southwark and receiving jobseeker's allowance, as reported by the Local Government Ombudsman, what action they are taking to ensure that threats of legal action following an administrative error do not recur. [HL467]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)

It is always a matter of deep regret when someone takes their own life. I would like to express my sympathy to the family of the deceased.

We are committed to improving the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit in all local authorities (LAs). We have listened to LAs and have introduced improvements that make the schemes easier for them to administer and easier for the public to understand.

We have published comprehensive performance standards and have provided the tools for LAs to self-assess their performance. We also provide direct practical support for authorities through our help team, performance improvement action teams and a kit of proven service improvement tools and techniques. These measures have already begun to make a real difference to the standard of performance in many authorities.

The Lord Chancellor's Department is working to improve the standards of business ethics and practice of the enforcement profession, enforcement agents and those who employ them or use their services. They have produced national standards for enforcement agents to share, build on and improve existing good practice and thereby raise the level of professionalism across the whole sector. This guidance includes the advice that enforcement agents or agencies and creditors must recognise that they each have a role in ensuring that the vulnerable and socially excluded are protected, and that the recovery process includes procedures agreed between them about how such situations should be dealt with.

Both the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Local Government Association are strongly encouraging all LAs to ensure that enforcement agents working on their behalf adopt the national standards. In addition the Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies and the Certificated Bailiffs Association have both recently agreed to incorporate adherence to the national standards in their codes of conduct for their members in the near future and to encourage them to be recognised in contractual arrangements where appropriate.

The Lord Chancellor's Department plans a White Paper early next year which will contain a package of proposals for improved methods of recovery for civil court debt and commercial rent, and a single regulatory regime for warrant enforcement agents.