The new regulations for bailiffs will take effect on 6th April and this will have a dramatic effect on enforcement of government debts. The regulations have taken nearly 20 years to be put in place and I am certainly not alone is saying that the regulations should NOT take effect on 6th April and instead should have a start date of October. The reasons are as follows: The Ministry of Justice only released the new fee scale a few weeks ago. Two weeks ago they issued substantial changes (over 60 pages) to the Civil Procedure Rules. Even with the new regulations being just 3 weeks away the Ministry of Justice have yet to release details of the new training requirements for bailiffs and the certification procedure and ways in which debtors (or others) may make a complaint to the court. The National Standards for Enforcement Agents are due to be updated...and again with just 3 weeks until the new regs take effect.....we are still waiting for details. Most importantly, there are over 300 local authorities in England & Wales and every one of them will need to amend their Contracts with the enforcement companies. In most cases, each authority use at least 2 or 3 enforcement companies to collect their debts. It is estimated that around 1,000 local authority contracts will require substantial amendments. A major stumbling block is that contracts may only be amended if the local authorities /or their legal advisors understand the new regulations. And they don't. At present John Kruse is carrying out training sessions but most local authorities (looking to spend as little money as possible) are preferring to instead use the FREE training sessions being run by THE BAILIFF COMPANIES !!! CIVEA are also offering "free' training to local authorities. Interestingly, I spoke on Friday to probably the largest London authority and they had received a 'training session' from a bailiff company just three days earlier. That particular local authority did not know anything about Part 6 (Interpleaders). Strangely, the bailiff company failed to include this vitally important section in their 'training session'. I wonder what else they are failing to tell the local authorities !!!! I am very worried indeed about what will happen when the new regulations take effect on 6th April. I hope to be proved wrong....but I can see complaints going through the roof.

What an interesting few days !!! As somebody said to me yesterday local authorities have a great deal in common with hibernating animals in that they become inactive or go into a deep sleep until the spring when their brain cells start working again. This is very well demonstrated by a letter that Paul Caddy; President of CIVEA sent to all bailiff companies on Friday and published on their website last night (see link below). CIVEA; are the governing body for the vast majority of bailiff companies and as can be seen from this news article all is not well with their local authority clients. I am also hearing that CIVEA are unhappy with some bailiff companies. http://www.civea.co.uk/news.htm

Future Business Tuesday 14 May at 2.30pm Lord Lucas to ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of arrangements whereby local authorities require bailiffs to pay them part of the fees that bailiffs have charged to debtors.