As 2024 winds down and a new year approaches, it’s timely to reflect on the significant progress that has been made over the last year, to get the ECB and wider sector ready for the start of full operational oversight from January 2025.
From setting new industry standards and developing our complaints scheme to commissioning groundbreaking research, there have been many important milestones delivered as we progress our mission to ensure that everyone who experiences enforcement action is treated fairly.
And all of this has been made possible by ongoing and significant constructive engagement and input from the enforcement industry, debt advice sector, creditors and our wider stakeholders.
Setting New Standards for Fair Enforcement
One of our biggest achievements this year has been the launch of new standards for ECB accredited enforcement firms and agents.
The work was a culmination of months of research, consultation and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders. Crucially, the ambitious new standards were launched with strong support and endorsement from both the debt advice sector and the enforcement industry.
Our standards make an essential contribution to achieving our mission: setting a clear, measurable framework for how enforcement agents should conduct themselves and how firms should operate, seeking to raise professionalism and reinforce ethical conduct.
They are the new benchmark for what modern, fair enforcement looks like, ensuring that agents, firms, and individuals understand their rights and obligations every step of the way.
You can read the full standards here: Standards – enforcementconductboard
Body Worn Video
We also published new research into enforcement doorstep practices.
The research, commissioned by the ECB and led by award-winning agency M.E.L Research, represented the first comprehensive study of its kind and plays an important part in building a reliable evidence base on the sector that will inform our approach to oversight.
Researchers analysed a substantial, randomly selected sample of over 600 videos of interactions between enforcement agents and members of the public at their homes or places of work.
The research identified examples of good practice, as well as some episodes of enforcement agents being abused and physically threatened by the people they were trying to collect money from.
But the reviewed footage also revealed a number of breaches against the current National Standards.
This report informed our new standards and you can read it, in full, here: 23303-ECB-Full-Report.pdf
Transforming the Complaints Process
We’ve also made great strides in improving the complaints process for those who feel they have been treated unfairly during enforcement.
We’ve set new standards for how firms carry out complaints handling, emphasising fairness, accessibility and speedy resolution. And we’ve developed our own complaints handling framework so that from January 2025 onwards, complaints can be brought to the ECB if someone feels they have not been treated in line with our standards, or if the firm in question hasn’t resolved their complaint appropriately. This means that everyone should be able to access independent assessment of their complaint, without needing to jump through too many hoops first.
Accreditation
We are ending the year with publication of our new accredited register, which shows more enforcement firms have signed up to ECB accreditation. This includes, for the first time, seven in-house teams at Local Authorities.
These new accredited firms extend our reach well beyond 95% of the market and demonstrates industry’s enduring commitment to independent oversight.
What’s Next for the ECB?
Over the coming months, we will be continuing to develop our standards, working closely with stakeholders. This will include launching new guidance on areas of the existing standards and, for the first time, setting new standards on vulnerability and ability to pay.
In terms of active oversight, alongside rolling out our own complaints handling process, we will also be implementing our operational oversight framework, which will include piloting a series of on-site monitoring visits to enforcement firms.
Our oversight framework is how we will monitor compliance with our standards, identify concerns and ensure that any identified issues are swiftly remedied – so it will be a key pillar of our overall approach.
And finally
The fair enforcement of court judgements is essential – to the functioning of our legal system as well as to the funding of local services.
Over the last year the enforcement industry, alongside the debt advice sector, has engaged fully with the ECB and supported us to put in place the foundations for impactful oversight in this important area. They have agreed stretching new standards; co-operated fully with rigorous independent research; and provided all the information as well as the funding that we have asked for to enable us to take forward our mission and underpin the new standards.
As we start to deliver oversight in practice challenges will inevitably continue to arise, but we would like to thank everyone who has engaged so constructively over the last year. We are excited to carry this momentum into the year ahead, as we start to deliver on the enforcement of the standards and the handling of complaints.
So on behalf of the ECB Board and team, we want to thank everyone who has supported our work this year. Your input has been invaluable and we look forward to working with you all in 2025 as we continue to work for a future in which everyone who experiences enforcement action is treated fairly.
Wishing you all a joyful festive season.
Until next year!
Catherine and Chris