We were pleased to feed into this call for evidence as part of the Independent Sentencing Review 2024 to 2025. Our submission was primarily framed around the urgent case for removing the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax in England, to alleviate pressures on the sentencing system and improve outcomes for those living with problem debt.
The current council tax regulations include a sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax in England, which allows prison sentences of up to 90 days in prescribed circumstances of “wilful refusal” or “culpable neglect”. The period of imprisonment does not result in a criminal record, and does not clear the debt.
Though few people are actually sent to prison for council tax non-payment, the threat looms large over our clients. Our submission highlighted how this sanction has a disproportionate, concerning impact on certain groups, notably women and single parents, and our evidence shows that the threat of this action is sometimes deployed irresponsibly and inappropriately. Moreover, there have been notable miscarriages of justice in this area where it has been found that the decision to commit certain people to prison was unlawful.
Rather than sustainably helping an individual to repay, StepChange research reveals that this punitive approach instead drives harmful coping mechanisms and worrying health outcomes – with implications for wider public services – while placing an unwarranted administrative and financial burden on an already stretched sentencing system.
It is our view that that those who fall behind on council tax bills should not subsequently be at risk of becoming part of the prison population, and that the Government should use the opportunities granted by the Sentencing Review to repeal the relevant regulation and end imprisonment for council tax debt in England – the only country in the UK where this sanction remains an option, having been abandoned in Wales most recently in 2019.
Not only is revoking this sanction a relatively uncomplicated move, but our submission demonstrated how it addresses two of the Sentencing Review’s three core principles:
- Firstly, to “make sure prison sentences punish serious offenders and protect the public, and there is always the space in prison for the most dangerous offenders.” Those who fall behind on their council tax bills have not committed a crime, they do not present a danger to the public, nor can the sentence be lawfully issued as “punishment”. The continued existence of this sanction acts in direct contradiction to this ambition, and removing it would send a strong signal around commitment to reform.
- Secondly, to “look at what more can be done to encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, and keep the public safe by reducing reoffending.” As one StepChange client put it, poverty is not a crime, and imprisonment should not be an answer for debt. Those who fall behind on council tax should be offered constructive support on the road to escaping problem debt, rather than have their liberty threatened.