Fixing a fractured society

CIVEA’s Russell Hamblin-Boone says the enforcement sector is working to become more transparent and accountable as it provides an essential service collecting debts owed to local authorities and their communities

“Our society depends on citizens respecting one another and following the protocols that define how we use roads, streets and public spaces.”

This was the theme set for the keynote session at the Enforcement Excellence conference, held in London in June. The statement was prompted by the experience of civil enforcement officers and certificated enforcement agents who have identified a distinct change in society’s attitude. It’s what I call the ‘fracturing of the social contract’.

Something switched in the public psyche during the pandemic. It may have been the frustration and isolation of the lockdown. It may have been Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings' flagrant disregard for government-imposed rules of conduct. It may be the widening wealth gap or the withdrawal of furlough payments and other benefits. Whatever happened has given a significant proportion of the population licence to ignore government and act to their own rules.

Many people are no longer buying into the social contract that says we will forgo some freedoms and act in accordance with the law in order to enjoy the protection of the state. They don’t feel protected and no longer believe in their obligation to behave for the good of society. On social media they call it “living their own truth”. As a result of this disfunction, people have given themselves permission to act with impunity.

Anti-social behaviour is being normalised and you see selfish actions daily. Motorists not respecting rules, parking where they want and ignoring traffic regulations – with the challenge presented by persistent evaders being how we try to stop them.

We know that enforcement officers are experiencing the fracturing of our society on the streets and enforcement agents are experiencing on the doorstep. It cannot be tolerated or go unchallenged.

There has been an increase in violence and abuse against public-facing staff across a range of sectors. Enforcement is not the only industry having to work harder to protect frontline staff. It’s a problem for those working in retail, transport and hospitality.

Possibly the difference our sector faces is that facing aggression is considered to be an occupational hazard and assaults on enforcement officers and agents, so it is not treated with the same degree of importance or concern.

The irony of this emerging situation is that while society has gone in one direction since the pandemic, leading to irresponsible and selfish actions, the enforcement sector has moved in the opposite direction, leading to more protection being offered the public. For example, in the realm of debt recovery, there are positive moves to:

• identify vulnerability and supporting people to manage their debts
• invest in technology to improve how we deliver services
• place greater social responsibility on civil enforcement agencies
• mandate the use of body-worn video to protect our staff and the public.

We have also voluntarily established independent oversight of our industry via the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) to ensure the highest standards of conduct are maintained, and we are funding it.

So how should we respond to the ‘fracturing of the social contract’?

We need to educate the public about our work, but not just the public. The media and politicians perpetuate the stereotypes in the way they speak about ‘traffic wardens and bailiffs’. We need to move the public image from one of ‘rogue bailiffs’ to one of considerate professionals working in an accountable fashion.

CIVEA has worked tirelessly through social media blogs, media briefings and meetings with MPs to try to evolve the narrative. But it takes a huge effort and time to turn the tide of public opinion, especially when it’s being reinforced by those with an agenda but no accountability for their messages.

For example, there’s a noisy and effective campaign group called Taking Control made up of a dozen or so debt advice groups and interested charities that use the stereotype to provoke an emotional response in order to achieve policy changes. Most of these people rarely interact with civil enforcement officers – and have never even seen a certificated enforcement agent!

These groups would support the abolition of civil enforcement, especially for Council Tax arrears. It seems to me that there is a disproportionate focus on Council Tax collection at the expense of other good work undertaken by certificated enforcement agents. Our critics don’t seem to understand that Council Tax cases accounted for just 28% of all enforcement work in 2022. Almost 60% of civil enforcement in that year was for the collection of parking and traffic penalty charge notices.

Indeed, when you consider that most of our work is enforcement of warrants for traffic offences it is surprising how much criticism is aimed at enforcement agents about Council Tax collection.

I often say that there are small number of people who experience civil enforcement first-hand, but a huge number of people who hear about it second-hand and have a strong opinion about it.

But as well as educating people, we have to engender trust. The voluntary establishment of the Enforcement Conduct Board gives us an opportunity to present facts, and the ECB must speak to the truth. It should not be influenced by politics and perceptions. But present the facts as evidence of conduct and behaviour – and where necessary challenge the stereotypes and speak up for us. But as an industry we need to be prepared for more negativity, even where our work is for the public good.

In the realm of traffic and parking regulation, as the world has started working again since the pandemic, we have seen an increase in the number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) passed to enforcement agents – rising from 2.4m in 2022 to 4m in 2023/4.

There has been an expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and replication of Clean Air Zones around cities in England and Wales. There will be more road charging and tolls and environmental measures like ‘2-plus lanes’ that will be attractive to an incoming Labour government. All of those things will require more enforcement action.

The new government will need to maximise revenue options and that will put the spotlight on civil enforcement and the social justice system. As an industry we can choose to respond to these socio-economic challenges in two ways. We can ramp up enforcement actions and call for tougher penalties, or we can work with central and local government on prevention and education.

But, in a cost of living crisis is a stronger punitive response an effective deterrent and what are the chances of politicians supporting us if that was our call for action?

No. The better option is to be more vocal about our work, it’s value and how essential it is to repair the social contract. How we enforced 4 million penalty charge notices (PCNs) last year and how we are tackling persistent evaders and keeping illegal vehicles off the roads.

However, we have to accept that, as in any sector with a large field force, there will be bad apples. The good news is that we have measures in place to root them out. If you read any of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) reports that have reviewed our industry you will always read that in the majority of cases firms are performing well and meeting conduct requirements.

But the minority cases, which we acknowledge must exist are used to define the majority.

We also need to be less apologetic about what we do. By definition, enforcement means entering property and seizing goods. How this can be legally executed is set out in detail in the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013. In fact, the complexity and extensive regulations may mean that people may not be aware of the enforcement agent’s rights.

It’s likely that those making allegations of misconduct by agents are expressing their dislike of the rules, rather than any genuine knowledge that agents were breaking any rules.

People sometimes misinterpret agents when they claim that they were ‘threatened’ that their vehicle may be clamped or an agent may enter their property. These are not threats, they are statements of fact in which agents are explaining their powers to undertake a legal process and the consequences of non-compliance.

But it is these mis-reported actions that are used to demonise our industry and leads to the deviant behaviour that is being reported by frontline staff. We have a positive story to tell, which is evidenced by the high levels of hard to collect debt that is recovered and the low level of complaints. The ECB is collating industry data to back this up.

In opposition it has been easy for some MPs to criticise how the government recovers debt from those who for one reason or another have not responded to extensive attempts to make contact and resolve their situation at an early stage. In government we hope that new ministers – including new chancellor Rachel Reeves – recognise how essential enforcement is to ensure that social justice is maintained and local revenue is collected.

Russell Hamblin-Boone is chief executive of CIVEA

CIVEA is the principal trade association representing civil enforcement agencies employing around 1,500 certificated enforcement agents in England and Wales. CIVEA represents approximately 40 companies that make up more than 95% of the entire enforcement industry. CIVEA’s members work to enforce civil debt on behalf of local authorities and His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) including Council Tax, business rates, road traffic and parking penalties, magistrates’ court fines, employment tribunal awards, child support payments, B2B and commercial rent arrears. This amounts to over £550m of unpaid taxes and fines recovered each year at no cost to the public purse.
www.civea.co.uk