Conduct is governed by the Act of Sederunt (Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers Rules) 1991. The Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers maintains a code of practice for the profession.

This page sets out the powers and where each one stops. Our Walker Love advice page deals with getting help, and the sheriff officer hub covers the role itself.

No. Sheriff officers are a Scottish role, appointed by and accountable to the sheriff, and bailiffs and High Court Enforcement Officers operate in England and Wales under different law.

Why the difference matters here

English enforcement vocabulary does not carry across the border, and the difference between the two roles changes what is possible. Scots diligence uses attachment and arrestment, and English enforcement terms describe a different system.

Scotland uses attachment, arrestment and, for council tax, a summary warrant. Anything describing a different vocabulary is describing a different country’s law.

That is worth settling before you read anything else about enforcement. A page written for England answers a different question.

What a summary warrant is, and what it is not

A summary warrant is granted by the sheriff court on the council’s application, supported by a certificate and without a hearing, under the Local Government Finance Act 1992. It is the authority the council holds before it instructs officers.

It is not a court decree obtained after a hearing, and it does not appear on your credit file. Council tax is not reported to credit reference agencies in Scotland.

They can carry out diligence. That covers an earnings arrestment on your wages, a bank arrestment on your account, and attachment of goods outside a dwelling.

Each power, and the limit built into it

The third column is the part worth reading. Every one of these powers has a statutory floor or boundary attached to it.

Only one diligence against earnings can operate against the same employment at a time, and a second creditor has to apply for a conjoined arrestment order, which the sheriff clerk administers.

A current maintenance arrestment is the exception, because it can run alongside an ordinary earnings arrestment against the same employment.

A notice of objection to a bank arrestment has to be lodged within 4 weeks of execution. That is the window for challenging one, and the funds are otherwise released to the creditor at 14 weeks.

The powers come from the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987, which also sets the floors under them. That is where both the protected minimum bank balance and the earnings deduction tables sit.

What council tax changes about the sequence

For council tax collected under a summary warrant, the council can move to an earnings arrestment without first serving a charge for payment. A charge is required for ordinary court decrees.

Benefits and tax credits should not be arrested where they can be clearly identified in an account. Banks do not always identify them, so it can be something you have to raise, and our guide to the wage arrestment tables works out what a deduction from your own net pay would be.

No. There is no power to force entry to a home for ordinary council tax arrears, and you are not obliged to let anyone in.

What an exceptional attachment order requires

Entry to a home is only possible under an exceptional attachment order, which is rare. The circumstances the sheriff has to be satisfied about include:

• A charge for payment has been served and has expired.
• Less intrusive diligence has been tried or would not recover enough.
• The creditor has made reasonable attempts to negotiate.
• There is a realistic prospect that non-essential goods would raise enough at auction to be worthwhile.
• The sheriff also considers whether you have sought money advice, and whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme application is under way.

Applications are made at the sheriff court. Getting money advice on the file is one of the things the sheriff looks at.

Where entry cannot be attempted at all

Entry cannot be attempted where the only people present are children under 16, or someone unable to understand the proceedings. Whether you have to let officers in covers the position at the door in full.

You can speak at the door or ask for everything in writing. Asking for a written breakdown is a reply.

Ordinary attachment reaches only goods outside a dwelling, such as a garden, a driveway or business premises. The protected goods list applies on top of that limit.

What the protected list covers

The Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 protects clothing, beds and bedding, household linen, food, medical aids and equipment, a fridge, heating and lighting appliances, cleaning and laundry equipment, curtains and floor coverings, and articles for a child’s upbringing, education or health along with children’s toys.

Furniture reasonably required for storage, seating and dining is protected, as are computers and telecoms equipment reasonably required by the household. Tools, books and equipment reasonably required for work, a trade or education are exempt up to £1,000 in total.

Money in the home cannot be attached at all, apart from a narrow exception for antique or collector’s coins. A car may be exempt where it is reasonably required and of modest value, and the full protected list sets out the condition attached to each category.

What Scots law does not have

There is no controlled goods agreement in Scots diligence. That term belongs to another jurisdiction’s law and describes nothing that can happen here.

They cannot have you imprisoned, they cannot give you a criminal record, and they cannot put council tax arrears on your credit file.

No prison and no criminal record

Non-payment of council tax cannot lead to imprisonment in Scotland. It is a civil debt, and the committal power that exists in England and Wales does not apply in Scots law.

Nothing on your credit file

Council tax is not reported to credit reference agencies in Scotland, so the arrears do not show. A summary warrant is not a court decree obtained after a hearing.

That is a real difference from an ordinary court decree, which is recorded and stays on the Register of Decrees for six years unless it is set aside or cancelled. The route council tax takes avoids it.

And nothing at your work

There is no law allowing an employer to dismiss you for having a wage arrestment, and employees with two years’ qualifying service have unfair dismissal protection. ACAS is the route for advice if a problem arises at work.

Your employer has to operate an arrestment and becomes liable for the sums if they refuse. Only payroll and whoever handles the paperwork needs to know.

Conduct sits under the Act of Sederunt (Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers Rules) 1991, and professional standards under the SMASO code of practice. Charging sits in a different Act of Sederunt again.

The four layers, separated

These are four different instruments with four different holders. Separating them tells you where each question goes.

Fees are set by the court and added to what you owe rather than priced by the firm. The same act carries the same fee whichever firm your council instructs.

Our guide to the fees sheriff officers can charge reproduces the table of fees with the rule that decides which of its two rates applies to you.

To the firm first, then to the Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, and then to the sheriff principal.

The three steps

Keep it factual: what happened, when, who was there and what you are asking for. Give the specific date and the specific act you are complaining about.

What to record as you go

• The officer’s name, and the firm they said they were from.
• The date and time of any contact.
• The reference number and the creditor named.
• What you asked for, and what you were told.
• A copy of every letter you send, with the date on it.

Our guide to what to do if sheriff officers knock on your door covers the same ground from the doorstep.

Where the real issue is the debt

A complaint is about conduct rather than about the debt. If the issue is the size of the balance, why it is bigger than the bill you remember takes it apart, and if the issue is the enforcement itself, the routes that stop it are the place to start.

Free help is available from Citizens Advice Scotland, StepChange, Money Advice Scotland and National Debtline. Official guidance on debt and diligence in Scotland sets out the formal routes.