The IMA and PayPlan launched a joint campaign against imprisonment for the non-payment of Council Tax at the IMA’s annual conference in Bristol in May 2017.

England and Wales are the only jurisdictions in Western Europe that imprison people for local tax debt. There are about 100 imprisonments every year for non-payment of council tax.

PayPlan and the Institute of Money Advisers (IMA) have launched a joint campaign to prevent the wrongful imprisonment of people for the non-payment of council tax.

Imprisonment is very costly for the public purse, extremely damaging to individuals and families and does nothing to pay the debt due to the council concerned.
The campaign aims to:

• Work for a change in the law to end imprisonment and threats of imprisonment for Council Tax debt
• Promote the use of local authority and magistrates’ courts’ powers to remit Council Tax arrears in appropriate circumstances
• Lobby local authorities and to help advisers and advice agencies to lobby local authorities to end the threat and use of imprisonment
• Call for improvements in the way the courts deal with committal proceedings
• Provide materials to help advisers help their clients deal with threats of imprisonment”

While the Welsh Government has changed its approach to using imprisonment for non-payment of council tax, the campaign continue to press for the law to be changed in England and Wales.

To date, three reports have been written: