Featured item:
Time to regulate the bailiff industry
Aggressive behaviour by bailiffs destroys lives, and the lack of an independent regulator allows them to act with impunity.
Councils in England instructed bailiffs for council tax collection in 1.7 million cases in 2024/25. Our own research found that 73% of people in council tax debt receiving a bailiff visit had a mental health problem.
The regulator for the enforcement industry, the Enforcement Conduct Board, currently has no statutory underpinning, and therefore remains reliant on voluntary financial support from the enforcement industry, as well as requiring voluntary engagement in order to raise standards across industry as a whole.
We believe it’s essential that the regulator is granted statutory footing – to help ensure that standards can be raised and are enforced without requiring consent from industry.
Read more about our call here.
“I wasn’t initially aware of the debt and the arrogance of the company involved was horrible. I wasn’t allowed to explain anything and was bullied into making an immediate payment which not only sent my mental health spiralling but obviously had knock-on consequences to my immediate and short term finances.”
– Expert by experience
PublicationsIt takes a neighbourhood
Putting integrated money and mental health support at the heart of neighbourhood health services.
May 13, 2026Campaign win! Taking a big step towards ending the Council Tax Trap
Francesca Smith, Senior Research Officer, Money and Mental Health
April 15, 2026Money and Mental Health celebrates campaign win, as government agrees to make council tax collection fairer in England
April 15, 2026
Money and Mental Health’s submission to the Enforcement Conduct Board’s consultation on Standards for Enforcement Work – vulnerability and ability to pay
Money and Mental Health welcome the ECB’s aim to raise the standards on how the enforcement industry approaches vulnerability and ability to pay. However, further steps are needed to make the most of this opportunity to better protect people with mental health problems from the harms caused by enforcement action.
November 10, 2025Debt collection: A best practice guide for telecoms suppliers
How telecoms suppliers can support their customers with money and mental health problems.
April 02, 2025
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