Open consultation

Improving enforcement of council tax

Published 1 July 2026

Applies to England

This consultation seeks views on steps that councils should take before proceeding to formal enforcement.

Scope of this consultation

This consultation is focused on seeking views on amending regulations to introduce steps that councils will be required to take before moving to formal enforcement and other steps which would be set out in guidance. The steps set out in guidance will not be statutory.  

The scope of this consultation is on council tax collection and recovery processes only. It will not seek views on fundamental reform of the council tax system.

Geographical scope

These proposals relate to England only.

Impact assessment

No impact assessment has been prepared for this consultation as it concerns a local taxation regime.

Body responsible for the consultation

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Duration

This consultation will last for 4 weeks from 1 July to 29 July 2026.

Enquiries

For any enquiries about the consultation please email council.tax@communities.gov.uk.

How to respond:

We encourage you to respond to this consultation by completing the online survey.

The online survey will allow you to save a draft response and return to the survey at a later time. You may also submit additional information or evidence to support your response to this consultation. Further advice on how to use these features is available on the home page of the online survey.

A glossary of the terms used throughout this consultation has been included later in this consultation.

If you are unable to use the online form, responses may be sent by email or post as set out below. If you are responding in writing, please make it clear which questions you are responding to.

Responses can be sent by email to council.tax@communities.gov.uk. 

Alternatively, they may be sent by post to:

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Local Tax Team, Local Government Finance
SE Quarter – 2nd Floor Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street, London
SW1P 4DF

If you reply to this consultation by email or post, please confirm whether you are replying as an individual or submitting an official response on behalf of an organisation and include the following information:

• your name

• type of respondent or organisation are you replying on behalf of (select one):
  • combined authority
  • fire and rescue authority
  • local authority association or special interest group
  • local authority councillor
  • London borough
  • metropolitan district
  • other representative group
  • parish or town council
  • shire county
  • shire district
  • unitary authority
  • voluntary organisation
• your position (if applicable)
• the name of organisation (if applicable)
• an email address
• a contact telephone number

Summary of the consultation approach

This consultation follows the government’s commitment in its response to the consultation on administration of council tax to consult on a set of statutory steps and guidance on other steps that councils should consider taking before proceeding to formal enforcement.

This consultation is not intended to revisit policy decisions which have already been set out in the previous consultation response. Instead, this consultation will focus on the technical and practical implementation of the steps which councils will be required to take ahead of formal enforcement.

The government is seeking views on changes to legislation which currently outlines the process which councils take when collecting and enforcing council tax. This includes the circumstances when councils can serve reminder notices and final notices. Questions 2 to 7 propose changes to reminder and final notices including the content, timing and number of reminder notices issued and any challenges that councils may encounter with implementing the changes.

The government has also committed to publish guidance which will set out additional steps that councils should consider taking before proceeding to formal enforcement. The government recognises existing practices in local areas and questions 8 to 10 requests councils to share any best practice and seeks views on what other practices should be included in guidance.

Throughout this process the government has been clear on its commitment to reforms that support the sustainable recovery of council tax – seeking to maintain a balance between supporting vulnerable taxpayers with ensuring councils retain powers to collect council tax and tackle council tax avoidance. The government is interested in understanding how councils distinguish between households which can/cannot pay council tax and what more could be done to manage those who are choosing not to pay council tax. Questions 11 to 13 seeks views on how councils distinguish those who can/can’t pay council tax and question 14 seeks views on additional tools to manage those who are considered as deliberately choosing not to pay council tax.

Finally, the government is interested in understanding any operational, financial or administrative impacts of the changes and question 15 seeks views on this along with mitigations.

Introduction

Council tax is an important source of funding for local government and supports the delivery of essential services that communities rely on. The government believes that councils should have the tools they need to collect council tax efficiently to deliver those services and tackle deliberate tax avoidance. However, this should be balanced with proportionate enforcement action that supports households to engage early and prevents the avoidable escalation of debts.

The government, in its response to the 2025 consultation on modernising and improving council tax administration set out reforms to the collection and enforcement of council tax – extending the timeframe before a person loses the right to pay in instalments to 63 days and introducing a cap of £100 on the costs that councils can charge for a liability order. The government also committed to set out steps that councils should take before progressing to formal enforcement action and to consult with councils on these specific steps. This technical consultation proposes a set of specific steps that councils should take during the 63 days before proceeding to formal enforcement and seeks views on how these should operate in practice.

These changes are intended to support councils’ earlier engagement with taxpayers and earlier signposting to support interventions where necessary. However, deliberate avoidance of council tax will not be tolerated, and the government is committed to ensuring that any changes are balanced against ensuring councils retain the necessary tools to enforce council tax and recover any tax owed. This is in line with the wider Government Debt Management Strategy, which sets government’s expectations for fair, proportionate and sustainable debt collection.

The government is aware that some taxpayers do not fully understand councils’ powers and processes to collect and enforce council tax, and this can contribute to disengagement, particularly for vulnerable taxpayers. While many councils already seek to address this, the proposed reforms will help ensure taxpayers receive clear information about their obligations to pay council tax and the support available to them.

Responses to this consultation will inform the design of legislation and any accompanying guidance for councils. We particularly welcome quantitative and qualitative evidence on councils’ existing practices and how this change could be implemented in a way that is operationally workable for councils and improves outcomes for taxpayers. Helpful evidence here could include information on any actions taken by councils before moving to formal enforcement (for example additional reminder notices) and any current or expected challenges with introducing further statutory steps (for example any system or funding constraints).

Steps required to be taken by councils before formal enforcement

Reminders and final notices

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”) make provision for the administration and enforcement of council tax and outline the process a billing authority must follow when collecting council tax and enforcing council tax debt. Regulation 23 of the 1992 Regulations sets out the circumstances in which a local authority can serve the reminder notice and when the full bill may become liable. Regulation 33 of the 1992 Regulations sets out the process for councils to serve the final notice.

The regulations do not set out a specific time a council must wait after a missed payment before sending a reminder notice for this payment. In practical terms, a council might not send this notice immediately given the need to treat taxpayers fairly and given the administrative cost of issuing reminders.

Councils have differing practices in how long they wait after a missed payment before sending a reminder notice, assuring themselves that the payment has actually been missed (rather than, for example, a delay due to banking issues). We understand from engagement with councils that some may wait longer than 14 days following the missed payment before they send the reminder notice. For instance, we heard through the consultation response from a local authority which reportedly issues reminder notices 30 days following the missed payment, issues a second reminder 7 days after the first notice (37 days following the missed payment) and issues a final reminder requesting full payment 7 days later (44 days in total). Whilst flexibility can be helpful, it creates inconsistent approaches across councils, leading to varying outcomes for taxpayers.

The government is not seeking to remove councils’ local flexibilities on engaging with households in council tax debt. It is however, considering the minimum number of notices which should be sent where a household is in council tax arrears, and the schedule for sending these mandatory notices.

Question 1

How many reminder notices (including discretionary reminder notices) did you issue to households ahead of a final notice for 2025-26? Please provide any further details of the notices you provide e.g. how and when these are sent.

Question 2

Do you agree that one reminder notice and one final notice should be the minimum requirement for councils?

Multiple choice options:

• yes: councils should send one reminder notice and one final notice as a minimum
• no: councils should be required to send at least 2 reminder notices before they issue a final notice
• no: councils should decide how many reminder notices to send in the 63-day period
• no: any other reason

Please explain your answer – with any evidence where available.

Some responses to the public consultation reported concerns regarding the content of the reminder notices which in some instances were perceived to be intimidating and, in some cases, led to taxpayers disengaging from the process. In addition, an investigation conducted by StepChange on this issue highlighted the frequency and speed in which some councils mentioned the use of enforcement agents or threats of imprisonment in reminder notices. The report notes that 85% of StepChange clients surveyed said the communications received from their council about their arrears made them feel scared, anxious or depressed, 67% said they felt helpless and 66% said they felt overwhelmed^{[footnote 1]}. These are concerning statistics, though the government recognises this is not a representative sample.

While the government agrees that it is right that councils should set out clear information to taxpayers on the actions that councils can take to recover council tax debt, the government believes this should be done in a manner which encourages taxpayers to engage with councils and seek early help and support.

To address this, the government intends to prescribe additional categories of information that should be included in the reminder notices and final notices. This could include information which might foster earlier engagement and signpost taxpayers to sources of help and intervention, for example debt advice providers. We are seeking your views on the extent of this information and any other information that should be included.

The legislation currently sets out that reminder notices are required to state the following:

• name of the liable person
• total amount that is due as of the day of the reminder notice
• when that outstanding amount is due
• the total amount which remains unpaid (and instalment dates if applicable)
• the total amount that will be due following further failure to pay

Question 3

What other information, if any, should be included in the reminder notices. Please tick all applicable from below.

• signpost to debt advice providers e.g. Money and Pensions Service, Citizens Advice, StepChange for income maximisation support etc.
• signpost to council to discuss payment plans
• signpost to information about discounts, exemptions, disregards reductions and other support for which a taxpayer may be eligible. Include a link on information on support in the system
• signpost to other money and welfare services within the council
• other suggestions [open text response]
• none of the above – this requirement should apply to final notices only (include open text to explain reasoning)

Question 4

The government is proposing that reminder notices and final notices should set out the actions that councils may take to enforce council tax debt in simple, factual, non-threatening language and proportional to the level of notice.

For example, information on reminder notices should focus on encouraging taxpayers to seek help with their bills, while more detailed information on formal enforcement actions should be reserved for the final notice.

Do you agree with this? Please share any best practice on how you approach this.

Question 5

Should the government prescribe a template to use for these letters to enable consistency across England?

Multiple choice option:

• yes: there should be a mandatory template, with its use set out in regulations
• no: however, it might be useful to provide a universal template which is optional and set out in guidance
• no: a template is unnecessary and should not be provided
• any other suggestion (open text)

Please explain your reasoning (open text).

Regulation 33 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 provides for the final notice which is issued before a billing authority can apply for a liability order. The regulations set out that councils can currently issue this in respect of payment any time after it is due. As mentioned previously in paragraph 2, the government will amend the regulations to extend the time before the full bill becomes due to 63 days after a missed instalment.

To align with this extended time frame, the government is proposing changes to when councils may issue the final notice for the missed payment. The intention of this change is to give taxpayers additional time to arrange their council tax debt before councils move to formally enforce the council tax debt.

More specifically, the government is proposing that the final notice:

• cannot be issued until at least 14 days after the most recent reminder notice was issued
• cannot be issued earlier than 41 days after the day the missed instalment was due and remains unpaid
• should set out clearly that residents will have 21 days to pay the amount stated in the notice (which will be the amount(s) due on the day the notice was issued)
• should state that if payment is not made by the end of the 21 days, the remaining full year’s bill will become due on the following day (which will be the 63rd day after the first missed payment)

Question 6

Do you agree with the proposal as set out above?

• yes
• no

Explain your answer.

Question 7

What barriers do councils anticipate in implementing the proposed changes to reminder and final notices as set out above?  

Please tick all applicable from below:

• need for additional staff training or capability
• changes required to IT systems or digital processes
• additional administrative complexity
• additional costs to the council (e.g. additional staffing costs)
• difficulty aligning the proposed changes with existing recovery processes
• data-sharing or information-sharing constraints
• communications or accessibility barriers
• no significant barriers
• other (please specify)

Please provide evidence to support your answer.

Developing guidance to support councils and taxpayers

The government is committed to delivering a collection and enforcement system which is proportionate and fair, and which ensures that households are given meaningful opportunities to engage and manage their debt and where possible avoid formal enforcement.

Paragraph 52 of the government’s response to the consultation on modernising and improving council tax administration, sets out the government’s commitment to publish guidance on additional steps that councils should consider taking before moving to formal enforcement action.

The government recognises that there are some councils who have adopted practices which are effective and go further in supporting vulnerable taxpayers before proceeding with formal enforcement. The government would like to see these best practices adopted more consistently across England – taxpayers should receive a fair and consistent experience regardless of where they live.

Public consultation responses noted that some councils took a range of approaches to support taxpayers with their council tax payments and in doing so, these helped towards effective debt recovery. Some examples included offering alternative repayment arrangements, flexible payment plans, using tailored communication and contacting taxpayers through multiple methods (post, phone calls, text messages), using team support to conduct welfare checks and money advice services (including signposting to debt advice providers) and where possible, referrals to Breathing Space.

Question 8

Which of the following policy options do you feel could have a positive impact in supporting taxpayers with their council tax payments?

• offering alternative repayment arrangements (e.g. setting up voluntary deduction plans with employers)
• flexible payment options (e.g. agreeing bespoke payment plans like weekly payments)
• using tailored and alternative sources of communication (text, phone, emails, post)
• conducting welfare checks
• referral and handover to in house or external debt advisors
• signpost to money advice services and debt advice providers
• none of the above
• other (please specify)

Please explain your answer (open text)

The government has committed to work with stakeholders on the guidance and, as part of this, is interested in understanding councils’ current practices and other steps councils should consider taking before progressing to formal enforcement action, which could be reflected in government guidance. This could include things like additional engagement with non-responsive taxpayers, tailored communication approaches, house visits to non-responsive taxpayers, warm handover to debt advice organisations and processes for identifying and responding to taxpayer vulnerability.

Question 9

Please provide examples of existing practices in your local authority which supports taxpayers with their council tax debt.

Question 10

What other practices do you think councils should consider, which could be included in the guidance?

Balancing the need to support households in difficulty whilst tackling tax avoidance

The council tax enforcement reforms are designed to better support taxpayers facing financial difficulties in paying their council tax bills by providing additional time and opportunity for them to manage their debt. Specifically, they seek to encourage earlier engagement and reduce the likelihood of moving on to formal enforcement action. Where formal enforcement action does occur, the government expects that this is carried out proportionately, fairly and consistently.

Responses to the government’s consultation suggest that many councils already have processes in place to support taxpayers struggling to pay their council tax bills, but report difficulties in identifying and engaging those who most need their support at an early stage. Anecdotally, we understand that in most cases, taxpayers who may need support will proactively reach out to councils, however there may be a small minority of vulnerable taxpayers who may be unable or unwilling to engage with councils regarding their council tax debt. In such instances it might be that is only following formal enforcement (and through bailiff visits) that councils will be made aware of existing vulnerabilities.

These reforms should better support those in genuine financial difficulties, whilst ensuring that councils retain the powers, they need to collect the tax which is owed and tackle deliberate and negligent tax avoidance. The government recognises that for councils to manage debt effectively, they will need to distinguish between households in difficulty and those who choose not to pay their council tax bills even when they would not have difficulty doing so – and have the right tools to take enforcement action to recover council tax debt.

The government is committed to improving data sharing arrangements between central and local government by expanding on existing pilots. Evidence from participating councils shows that these arrangements improve identification of households’ ability to pay, support earlier and more effective engagement, and enable more targeted support for those in financial hardship. Expansion of these arrangements will give councils better tools to intervene early and recover debt sustainably, while reducing reliance on more intrusive enforcement action.

Alongside data sharing arrangements, the government is interested in understanding if there are other ways in which councils can proactively distinguish between households unable to pay their bills and those choosing not to pay, and what tools might help with this. The government is also interested in understanding what more could be done to assist councils with addressing deliberate non-payment of council tax.

Question 11

What challenges do councils face in identifying vulnerability or hardship at pre-enforcement stage?

• limited data on households and data‑sharing constraints
• reliance on self‑disclosure, meaning vulnerabilities go unreported until enforcement begins
• difficulty distinguishing between temporary and long‑term financial vulnerabilities
• capacity and resource constraints of the council which mean they are unable to effectively engage at an early stage
• language and accessibility barriers
• digital exclusion leading to low engagement
• no significant challenges
• any other (please specify)

Please include evidence of any stated above.

Question 12

What information or evidence do councils currently use at the pre-enforcement stage to assess whether a household is unable or unwilling to pay their council tax bill?

• information provided directly by the household, including contact from the taxpayer or their representative
• previous payment history and patterns of non-payment
• information already held by the council, including records of council tax support or other local authority services
• information shared by other public bodies or partner organisations
• indicators of non-engagement, including repeated non-response to council communications
• professional judgement based on caseworker experience
• affordability assessments (and related information) from debt advice organisations
• no specific information or evidence is used at this stage
• any other information or evidence (please specify)

Question 13

What other tools or flexibilities would assist councils in distinguishing between households experiencing genuine hardship and those who are deliberately not paying at the pre-enforcement stage? Please explain.  

Question 14

What additional tools or flexibilities would assist councils in dealing with those who are considered to be deliberately choosing not to pay their council tax bills? Please explain.

Risk assessment and effectiveness

While the introduction of steps ahead of formal enforcement is intended to make the enforcement process fairer and more consistent for taxpayers, the government recognises that these changes could slow down councils’ existing recovery processes and timelines. For instance, councils have reported that extending the time before the full bill becomes payable to 63 days could affect in-year collection rates, and subsequent cash flow, as it may be harder to secure payment within the same financial year. However, the government also recognises that earlier engagement with taxpayers and the promotion of sustainable repayment arrangements may, in some cases, support recovery of tax owed by reducing disengagement and avoiding the escalation of debt.

The government is therefore seeking to better understand the potential operational, financial and administrative impacts of these reforms, including how any risks to collection performance could be mitigated.

Question 15

What impact, if any, do you think the proposed changes will have on councils’ ability to collect council tax effectively?

Please provide evidence where possible, including any anticipated impact on recovery timelines, in-year collection rates, taxpayer compliance, and administrative burden.

Any other comments

Question 16

Please use this section to share views on anything else, related to changes to council tax collection and enforcement, which you feel has not been covered.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, the government is required to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it, and
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The protected characteristics which should be considered are:

• age
• disability
• sex
• gender reassignment
• marriage or civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sexual orientation

The aim of the changes proposed in the consultation is to provide additional time and space for those struggling to pay their bills on time. The government believes that these changes will likely have a disproportionate positive impact on groups of people who share a protected characteristic who are more likely to experience financial disadvantage (for example single parent households, disabled people and ethnic minority households) and improve outcomes for taxpayers more generally. The government will include a summary of the equalities impacts of these changes when responding to this consultation.

Question 17

Do you have any views on whether these changes will have any disproportionate impacts on any particular groups with protected characteristics compared to others?

Glossary of terms

This is an overview of the key terms used in the consultation and should not be read as a definitive interpretation of the legislation.

Term	Definition
Instalment due date	The date a council tax payment is due as set out in the council’s demand notice
Missed payment	This is when a liable taxpayer does not make the scheduled payment by the time set out on the council’s demand notice, as provided for by Regulation 23 (1c) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
Missed payment or missed instalment date	This is the day after the payment was due, if it has still not been paid
Date account flagged	This is the date which the council records the payment as overdue
Council tax avoidance	This term is used in this document to refer to deliberate failure or refusal to pay council tax
Debt advice providers	The term used here takes its definition from Regulation 3 of the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020

List of consultation questions

Question 1

How many reminder notices (including discretionary reminder notices) did you issue to households ahead of a final notice for 2025-26? Please provide any further details of the notices you provide e.g. how and when these are sent.

Question 2

Do you agree that one reminder notice and one final notice should be the minimum requirement for councils?

Multiple choice options:

• yes: councils should send one reminder notice and one final notice
• no: councils should be required to send at least 2 least reminder notices before they issue a final notice.
• no: councils should decide how many reminder notices to send in the 63-day period
• no: any other reason

Please explain your answer – with any evidence where available.

Question 3

What other information, if any, should be included in the reminder notices. Please tick all applicable from below.

• signpost to debt advice providers
• signpost to councils to discuss payment plans
• signpost to information about discounts, exemptions, disregards reductions and other support for which a taxpayer may be eligible. Include a link on information on support in the system
• signpost to other money and welfare services within the council
• other suggestions [open text response]
• none of the above – this requirement should apply to final notices only (include open text to explain reasoning)

Question 4

The government is proposing that reminder notices and final notices should set out the actions that councils may take to enforce council tax debt in simple, factual, non-threatening language and proportional to the level of notice.

For example, information on reminder notices should focus on encouraging taxpayers to seek help with their bills, while more detailed information on formal enforcement actions should be reserved for the final notice.

Do you agree with this? Please share any best practice on how you approach this.

Question 5

Should the government prescribe a template to use for these letters to enable consistency across England?

Multiple choice option:

• yes: there should be a mandatory template, with its use set out in regulations
• no: however, it might be useful to provide a universal template which is optional and set out in guidance
• no: a template is unnecessary and should not be provided
• any other suggestion (open text)

Please explain your reasoning (open text).

Question 6

Do you agree with the proposal as set out above?

• yes
• no

Explain your answer.

Question 7

What barriers do councils anticipate in implementing the proposed changes to reminder and final notices as set out above?  

Please tick all applicable from below:

• need for additional staff training or capability
• changes required to IT systems or digital processes
• additional administrative complexity
• additional costs to the council (e.g. additional staffing costs)
• difficulty aligning the proposed changes with existing recovery processes
• data-sharing or information-sharing constraints
• communications or accessibility barriers
• no significant barriers
• other (please specify)

Please provide evidence to support your answer.

Question 8

Which of the following policy options do you feel could have a positive impact in supporting taxpayers with their council tax payments?

• offering alternative repayment arrangements (e.g. setting up voluntary deduction plans with employers)
• flexible payment options (e.g. agreeing bespoke payment plans like weekly payments)
• using tailored and alternative sources of communication (text, phone, emails, post)
• conducting welfare checks
• referral and handover to in house or external debt advisors
• signpost to money advice services and debt advice providers
• none of the above
• other (please specify)

Please explain your answer (open text)

Question 9

Please provide examples of existing practices in your local authority which supports taxpayers with their council tax debt.

Question 10

What other practices do you think councils should consider, which could be included in the guidance?

Question 11

What challenges do councils face in identifying vulnerability or hardship at pre-enforcement stage?

• limited data on households and data‑sharing constraints
• reliance on self‑disclosure, meaning vulnerabilities go unreported until enforcement begins
• difficulty distinguishing between temporary and long‑term financial vulnerabilities
• capacity and resource constraints of the council which mean they are unable to effectively engage at an early stage
• language and accessibility barriers
• digital exclusion leading to low engagement
• no significant challenges
• any other (please specify)

Please include evidence of any stated above.

Question 12

What information or evidence do councils currently use at the pre-enforcement stage to assess whether a household is unable or unwilling to pay their council tax bill?

• information provided directly by the household, including contact from the taxpayer or their representative
• previous payment history and patterns of non-payment
• information already held by the council, including records of council tax support or other local authority services
• information shared by other public bodies or partner organisations
• indicators of non-engagement, including repeated non-response to council communications
• professional judgement based on caseworker experience
• no specific information or evidence is used at this stage
• any other information or evidence (please specify)

Question 13

What other tools or flexibilities would assist councils in distinguishing between households experiencing genuine hardship and those who are deliberately not paying at the pre-enforcement stage? Please explain. 

Question 14

What additional tools or flexibilities would assist councils in dealing with those who are considered to be deliberately choosing not to pay their council tax bills? Please explain.

Question 15

What impact, if any, do you think the proposed changes will have on councils’ ability to collect council tax effectively?

Please provide evidence where possible, including any anticipated impact on recovery timelines, in-year collection rates, taxpayer compliance, and administrative burden.

Question 16

Please use this section to share views on anything else, related to changes to council tax collection and enforcement, which you feel has not been covered.

Question 17

Do you have any views on whether these changes will have any disproportionate impacts on any particular groups with protected characteristics compared to others?

About this consultation

This consultation document and consultation process have been planned to adhere to the Consultation Principles issued by the Cabinet Office.

Representative groups are asked to give a summary of the people and organisations they represent, and where relevant who else they have consulted in reaching their conclusions when they respond.

Information provided in response to this consultation may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and UK data protection legislation.  In certain circumstances this may therefore include personal data when required by law.

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, as a public authority, the Department is bound by the information access regimes and may therefore be obliged to disclose all or some of the information you provide. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will at all times process your personal data in accordance with UK data protection legislation and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties. A full privacy notice is included below.

Individual responses will not be acknowledged unless specifically requested.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and respond.

Are you satisfied that this consultation has followed the Consultation Principles?  If not or you have any other observations about how we can improve the process please contact us via the complaints procedure.

Personal data

The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.

Note that this section only refers to personal data (your name, contact details and any other information that relates to you or another identified or identifiable individual personally) not the content otherwise of your response to the consultation.

1. The identity of the data controller and contact details of our Data Protection Officer    

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or by writing to the following address:

Data Protection Officer,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street, London
SW1P 4DF

2. Why we are collecting your personal data  

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the consultation process, so that we can contact you regarding your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters.

We will collect your IP address if you complete a consultation online. We may use this to ensure that each person only completes a survey once. We will not use this data for any other purpose.

Sensitive types of personal data

Please do not share special category personal data or criminal offence data if we have not asked for this unless absolutely necessary for the purposes of your consultation response. By ‘special category personal data’, we mean information about a living individual’s:

• race
• ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• genetics
• biometrics 
• health (including disability-related information)
• sex life
• sexual orientation.

By ‘criminal offence data’, we mean information relating to a living individual’s criminal convictions or offences or related security measures.

3. Our legal basis for processing your personal data

The collection of your personal data is lawful under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation as it is necessary for the performance by MHCLG of a task in the public interest/in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. Section 8(d) of the Data Protection Act 2018 states that this will include processing of personal data that is necessary for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department i.e. in this case a consultation.

Where necessary for the purposes of this consultation, our lawful basis for the processing of any special category personal data or ‘criminal offence’ data (terms explained under ‘Sensitive Types of Data’) which you submit in response to this consultation is as follows. The relevant lawful basis for the processing of special category personal data is Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (‘substantial public interest’), and Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘statutory etc and government purposes’). The relevant lawful basis in relation to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences data is likewise provided by Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

4. With whom we will be sharing your personal data

MHCLG may appoint a ‘data processor’, acting on behalf of the Department and under our instruction, to help analyse the responses to this consultation.  Where we do we will ensure that the processing of your personal data remains in strict accordance with the requirements of the data protection legislation.

5. For how long we will keep your personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period.

Your personal data will be held for 2 years from the closure of the consultation, unless we identify that its continued retention is unnecessary before that point.

6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, restriction, objection

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have considerable say over what happens to it. You have the right:

a. to see what data we have about you

b. to ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record

c. to ask to have your data corrected if it is incorrect or incomplete

d. to object to our use of your personal data in certain circumstances

e. to lodge a complaint with the independent Information Commissioner (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law.  You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/, or telephone 0303 123 1113.

Please contact us at the following address if you wish to exercise the rights listed above, except the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO: dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or

Knowledge and Information Access Team,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London
SW1P 4DF

7. Your personal data will not be sent overseas

8. Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision making

9. We use a third-party system, Citizen Space, to collect consultation responses. In the first instance your personal data will be stored on their secure UK-based server. Your personal data will be transferred to our secure government IT system as soon as possible, and it will be stored there for two years before it is deleted

1. Clear, Fair, Understandable? (page 5) ↩