Official Information Act request – Police involvement in Rangitikei District Council debt and rates enforcement

RANGITIKEI COUNCIL DEBT / RATES ENFORCEMENT

Date: 9 August 2026
From: TRACY LYNCH
To: New Zealand Police
Subject: Official Information Act request – Police involvement in Rangitikei District Council debt and rates enforcement

Under the Official Information Act 1982, please provide the following information concerning New Zealand Police involvement in the recovery or enforcement of civil debts owed to Rangitikei District Council, including unpaid rates:
1. Any policy, general instruction, operational guideline, legal advice, memorandum, protocol, practice note, training material, or other document concerning Police involvement in the collection or enforcement of civil debts owed to local authorities, including unpaid rates.
2. Any document identifying the statutory, common-law, court-process, operational, or other authority under which Police may attend, assist with, facilitate, or otherwise participate in a local authority’s recovery of unpaid rates or other civil debt.
3. Any memorandum of understanding, agreement, protocol, correspondence, standing arrangement, or operational understanding between New Zealand Police and Rangitikei District Council concerning rates recovery, debt enforcement, property attendance, enforcement activity, or Council-requested Police assistance.
4. For the period 1 July 2021 to 8 August 2026, the number of occasions on which Rangitikei District Council, its Mayor, councillors, employees, lawyers, debt collectors, contractors, or agents requested Police attendance or assistance in connection with unpaid rates or another Council debt.
5. For each occasion identified in item 4, please provide the Police event or reference number, date, general purpose of Police attendance or involvement, requesting party where recorded, and the recorded statutory or operational basis for Police involvement.
6. Any record stating whether Police considers the ordinary collection of unpaid local-authority rates or other civil Council debt to be a Police function under section 9 of the Policing Act 2008 or any other enactment.
7. Any record identifying the circumstances in which Police may nevertheless attend a local-authority rates or debt-enforcement matter, including where the purpose is keeping the peace, public safety, execution of court process, investigation of an alleged offence, prevention of an offence, or another identified Police function.
8. Any Police record referring specifically to Rangitikei District Council, Mayor Andy Watson, or Council representatives requesting Police assistance for the purpose of obtaining, facilitating, securing, or compelling payment of a Council debt.
If Police holds no policy, agreement, protocol, or legal authority of the kind described above, please state that expressly.
If any information is withheld, please identify the specific statutory withholding ground relied upon for each category of information withheld.
If any requested information is not held by New Zealand Police but is believed to be held by another agency, please transfer that part of the request in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982 and advise me of the transfer.
Electronic copies are preferred. Where a record already exists electronically, please provide the existing record rather than creating a new summary.
Yours faithfully,
TRACY LYNCH