House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
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Other Bills before Parliament

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
460

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

‘Premises occupied by a single woman or persons under 16

13A
Where a dwelling is known or believed to be occupied by a single woman or a

child under 16, no visit with the intention of seizing goods shall be permitted

unless the enforcement officer is female or is accompanied by a female

enforcement officer.’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  74

Page  209,  line  36  [Schedule  12],  leave out paragraph 14.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  39

Page  210,  line  8  [Schedule  12],  leave out from beginning to end of line 28 on page

212 and insert—

    ‘(7)
An enforcement agent may if necessary use reasonable force to enter relevant

premises or to do anything for which the entry is authorised if any of these

conditions are met—

(a)
the conditions of paragraph 15 (re-entry to inspect or remove

controlled goods) are met, or

(b)
in all other cases, if the premises contain no living or domestic

accommodation.

Re-entry to inspect or remove controlled goods

15  (1)
An enforcement agent may re-enter any premises where there are controlled

goods which have not been removed by the enforcement agent.

      (2)
The enforcement agent may if necessary use reasonable force to enter the

premises to inspect the goods or to remove them for storage or sale.

      (3)
This paragraph authorises repeated re-entry to the same premises, subject to

any restrictions in regulations.

General provisions about entry and re-entry

16  (1)
The enforcement agent must on request show the debtor and any person who

appears to him to be in charge of the premises evidence of—

(a)
his identity, and

(b)
his authority to enter the premises.

      (2)
The request may be made before the enforcement agent enters the premises or

while he is there.

      (3)
The enforcement agent may take other people onto the premises who may

assist the enforcement agent in exercising any power, including a power to use

force, but who may not remain on the premises without the enforcement agent.

      (4)
The enforcement agent may take any equipment onto the premises and may

leave equipment on the premises if he leaves controlled goods there.

      (5)
The enforcement agent may enter and remain on the premises only within

prescribed times of day.

      (6)
Regulations may give the court power in prescribed circumstances to authorise

him to enter or remain on the premises at other times.

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
461

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

      (7)
The enforcement agent must leave the premises as effectively secured as he

finds them. General provisions about the use of force to enter and re-enter

apply.

17  (1)
This paragraph applies where an enforcement agent has power to use

reasonable force if necessary to enter premises.

      (2)
The power to enter and any power to use force are subject to any restrictions

imposed by or under regulations.

      (3)
A power to use force does not include power to use force against persons.

Notices and lists of goods

18  (1)
After entering or re-entering premises the enforcement agent must provide a

notice for the debtor giving information about what the enforcement agent is

doing. Regulations must state—

(a)
the form of the notice; and

(b)
what information it must give.

      (2)
Regulations may prescribe circumstances in which a notice need not be

provided after re-entry to premises.

      (3)
If the debtor is on the premises when the enforcement agent is there, the

enforcement agent must give him the notice then.

      (4)
If the debtor is not there, the enforcement agent must leave the notice in a

conspicuous place on the premises.

      (5)
If the enforcement agent knows that there is someone else there or that there

are other occupiers, a notice he leaves under sub-paragraph (1) must be in a

sealed envelope addressed to the debtor.

      (6)
If the debtor is absent from the premises, the enforcement agent must leave at

the premises a list of any goods he takes away.

      (7)
If the enforcement agent knows that there is someone else there or that there

are other occupiers, a list he leaves under sub-paragraph (6) must be in a sealed

envelope addressed to the debtor.’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  75

Page  210,  line  9  [Schedule  12],  leave out sub-paragraph (1) and insert—

    ‘(1)
An enforcement agent may not—

(a)
enter premises to search for and take control of goods, or

(b)
enter premises where goods have been taken control of and not

removed,


        unless sub-paragraph (1A) applies.

    (1A)
This sub-paragraph applies if the enforcement agent has—

(a)
sought permission from the owner to enter the property;

(b)
specified a reasonable time for entry; and

(c)
applied to the court for, and the court has issued, a warrant authorising

him to enter the premises.’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  76

Page  210,  line  19  [Schedule  12],  leave out sub-paragraph (3) and insert—

    ‘(3)
The Lord Chancellor must keep a record of all cases in which a warrant is

issued under this paragraph.’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
462

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

Simon Hughes

Not called  77

Page  210,  line  22  [Schedule  12],  leave out paragraph 16.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Henry Bellingham

Not called  17

Page  210,  line  28  [Schedule  12],  leave out paragraphs 17 to 22 and insert—

‘Application for power to use reasonable force

16A(1)
This paragraph applies if an enforcement agent has the power to enter the

premises under paragraph 14 or 16 or under a warrant under paragraph 15.

      (2)
If the creditor applies to the court, it may issue a warrant authorising an

enforcement agent to use, if necessary, reasonable force to enter the premises

for the purpose of taking control of goods.

      (3)
The court may issue a warrant under sub-paragraph (2) only if it is satisfied that

there are exceptional circumstances.

      (4)
In considering whether to issue a warrant under sub-paragraph (2), the court

shall have regard to the matters set out in sub-paragraph (5).

      (5)
Those matters are—

(a)
the nature of the debt;

(b)
whether the debtor resides at the premises specified in the application;

(c)
whether the debtor carries on a trade or business at those premises;

(d)
the personal and financial circumstances of the debtor and their

family;

(e)
whether the likely costs arising from execution of the enforcement

power (including, but not limited to, those costs arising from use of

reasonable force) are proportional to the debt;

(f)
whether the creditor has, so far as is reasonable, attemted to enforce

payment of the debt by other means.

      (6)
For the purposes of this paragraph, exceptional circumstances are—

(a)
that the debtor has been given reasonable opportunity to repay by

affordable instalments but has deliberately or wilfully chosen not to do

so;

(b)
that the debtor is not a vulnerable person;

(c)
that there is a reasonable prospect that the sum recovered from the sale

of the debtor’s goods would be at least equal to an amount prescribed

by order of the Lord Chancellor.

      (7)
Regulations shall prescribe the circumstances in which debtors are to be

defined as vulnerable persons for the purposes of this paragraph.

      (8)
The Lord Chancellor shall consult such persons or bodies as he considers

appropriate on the content of the regulations made under sub-paragraph (7).

      (9)
The court may not issue a warrant under sub-paragraph (2) until regulations

under sub-paragraph (7) have come into force.

    (10)
The court may suspend the operation of a warrant under sub-paragraph (2) on

such terms as it sees fit on its own volition or on the application of the debtor

at any time before goods taken under control have been sold.’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  78

Page  210,  line  28  [Schedule  12],  leave out ‘or 19’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
463

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

Simon Hughes

Not called  79

Page  210,  line  32  [Schedule  12],  leave out ‘under paragraph 14 or 16 or’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  80

Page  210,  line  40  [Schedule  12],  leave out paragraph 19.

Simon Hughes

Not called  81

Page  211,  line  13  [Schedule  12],  leave out ‘under paragraph 14 or 16 or’.

Simon Hughes

Not called  82

Page  211,  line  29  [Schedule  12],  leave out ‘under paragraph 14 or 16 or’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Henry Bellingham

Not called  18

Page  211,  line  30  [Schedule  12],  leave out paragraph 24 and insert—

‘24(1)
Nothing in this Act shall permit the entry by force to a dwelling house by a civil

enforcement agent where—

(a)
the door is locked or secured against entry;

(b)
a householder has indicated to a civil enforcement officer or

enforcement agent that such entry is refused; or

(c)
where a dwelling is occupied or appears to be occupied by a person or

persons under 16 or by a person lacking the mental capacity to

understand the consequences of entry.

      (2)
Nothing in this Act shall allow a civil enforcement officer pursuing a fine

recoverable as a civil debt to—

(a)
search a person without their consent;

(b)
search a person of the opposite sex;

(c)
remove items of clothing or jewellery or other wearing apparel;

(d)
remove a person from a dwelling who has sole care of children

resident in that dwelling whether the children are physically present at

that time or not.

      (3)
Nothing under this Act permits a civil enforcement officer or agent enforcing

any other civil order or judgement of the court to—

(a)
use force against an occupier or person present in the dwelling save in

as is permitted at common law or under section 3 of the Criminal Law

Act 1967 (c. 58);

(b)
conduct a search of a person in a dwelling;

(c)
remove any item of clothing, jewellery or wearing apparel or other

object from a person.’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
464

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  28

Page  213,  line  2  [Schedule  12],  at end insert ‘and after notice has been given to the

owner of any vehicle in relation to which the power is to be exercised’.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  70

Page  213,  line  2  [Schedule  12],  at end insert—

‘(1A)
There shall be no enforcement action until notice has been served by recorded

delivery mail, and in the event of any failure of delivery, by personal visit by the

enforcement agent, acknowledged by the signature of the debtor.’.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  29

Page  213,  line  7  [Schedule  12],  at end insert ‘, before doing either of those things,’.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  30

Page  213,  line  12  [Schedule  12],  leave out sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) and insert—

‘(3)
The enforcement agent must deliver the notice to any relevant premises in a

sealed envelope addressed to the debtor.

(4)
Premises are relevant if the enforcement agent reasonably believes that they are

the place, or one of the places, where the debtor—

(a)
usually lives, or

(b)
carries on a trade or business.’.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  31

Page  213,  line  37  [Schedule  12],  leave out ‘Before the end of the minimum period’

and insert ‘If a vehicle is clamped or removed under the provisions of this Schedule’.

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  32

Page  214,  line  1  [Schedule  12],  leave out sub-paragraph (2).

Mr Austin Mitchell

Not called  40

Page  217,  line  24  [Schedule  12],  leave out sub-paragraph (2).

Simon Hughes

Jenny Willott

Not called  7

Page  221,  line  28  [Schedule  12],  at end insert—

Report Stage Proceedings: 27th June 2007
465

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords], continued

‘(4A)
Regulations must make provision for legal aid to be available where financially

necessary in all such actions.’.

Vera Baird

Agreed to  64

Page  233  [Schedule  13],  leave out lines 11 to 15.

Vera Baird

Agreed to  65

Page  245,  line  11  [Schedule  13],  at end insert—

‘Income Tax Act 2007 (c.3)

158
In section 955(4) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (proceedings before set-off

claim is made) after “attachment” insert “or under Schedule 12 to the

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (taking control of goods)”.’.

Vera Baird

Agreed to  67

Title,  line  3,  after ‘appointments’, insert ‘and appointments to the Law Commission’.

Bill read the third time and passed, with Amendments.