Council Tax prosecutions – pre & post benefit reforms
Dear Haringey Borough Council,
Please supply under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the
following:-
A) number of Council Tax Summons issued and Liability Orders granted broken down into each recovery cycle / application to the Magistrates court in the period from 1st April 2013 to date.
B) corresponding data but for 2012
Yours faithfully,
Dan Stevens
Dear Mr Stevens
Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
Reference LBH/2197813
I acknowledge your request for information received on 13 September 2013.
This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 11 October 2013.
If you have any questions, please contact us on 020 8489 2550 or
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Varsha Shah
Feedback Response Officer
Feedback & Information Governance | 020 8489 2550
Dear Mr Stevens,
Please find attached the response to your request for information.
Apologies for the delay in responding.
Kind regards,
Melda Hassan
PA to Head of Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services
Haringey Council
River Park House, 225 High Road, London N22 8HQ
T. 020 8489 2845
[1][email address]
[2]www.haringey.gov.uk
[3]twitter.com/haringeycouncil
[4]www.facebook.com/haringeycouncil
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From: Shah Varsha
Sent: 16 September 2013 09:05
To: '[FOI #176662 email]'
Subject: Stevens : Freedom of Information request -Reference LBH/2197813
Dear Mr Stevens
Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
Reference LBH/2197813
I acknowledge your request for information received on 13 September 2013.
This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 11 October 2013.
If you have any questions, please contact us on 020 8489 2550 or
[5][email address].
Yours sincerely
Varsha Shah
Feedback Response Officer
Feedback & Information Governance | 020 8489 2550
Dear CS Development Inbox,
Thank you for your response.
I notice that the data supplied is not consistent from one year to the other.
For 2012/13 there are no figures for April and May whilst for 2013/14 both April and May have data provided.
Was this the actual situation, or is there a mistake in the presentation of the data?
Yours sincerely,
Dan Stevens
Dear Mr Stephens
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST LBH/2197813
Thank you for your e mail received on 14 November 2013 in which you
queried the following:
· For 2012/13 there are no figures for April and May whilst for
2013/14 both April and May have data. Was this the actual situation, or is
there a mistake in the presentation of the data?
Your original request asked for the number of council tax summons issued
and liability orders granted broken down by each recovery
cycle/application to the Magistrates Court in the period from 1 April 2013
to date. Corresponding data but for 2012.
I can confirm that regrettably there was a mistake in the presentation of
the data as I failed to include the following detail
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Recovery cycle 2012/2013|Number of summons|Number of liability orders |
| |notices issued |granted |
|------------------------+-----------------+-----------------------------|
|4 April 2012 |176 |101 |
|------------------------+-----------------+-----------------------------|
|2 May 2012 |1,971 |1,299 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Please accept my sincere apologies for this oversight.
Yours sincerely
Maxine Broadbridge
Service Manager - Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services
Haringey Council
Alexandra House, 10 Station Road, Wood Green, N22 7TR
T.020 8489 3549
facebook.com/haringeycouncil
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Dear Ms Broadbridge,
Thank you for responding to this request. The figures highlight the effects recent benefit reforms have had on the ability for householders to pay their council tax liability.
A comparison between 2012 and 2013 of the months May to September indicates that the number of summonses issued in 2013 (after the effect of reforms) increased on average by around 33%.
In 2012, Haringey Borough Council raised standard costs of £125 for each application to the Magistrates' court for a summons.
This suggests that for May to September 2012, costs raised through issuing summonses (12,574) would have been £1,571,750 (12,574 x £125).
Any employee working as part of a council's revenues & benefits team knows that the principle factor determining the level of summons costs imposed on each individual (costs reasonably incurred by the authority) is dependent on the number of defendants between which the total cost is split. In other words, the summons cost per individual must decrease in a proportional amount to an increase in applications to the court.
Now for May to September 2013, the number of summons issued was 16,737. The cost incurred by the council for this period is £1,571,750 (implied by costs raised for the same period in 2012).
A simple calculation using the figures available indicates that the costs claimed per individual should be around £94 (£1,571,750 divided by 16,737), the higher figure of 16,737 being due to the effects of benefit reforms.
There is a small adjustment which needs making to that figure for costs attributable to an increased number of applications. Those being the Magistrates court fees of £3 for each application to the court and postage costs etc for serving the summons.
– Increased number of summonses = 4,163
– 4,163 x £4 = £16,652
– £1,571,750 + £16,652 = £1,588,402
divided by 16,737 (the increased number of defendants) = £94.90
The cost estimated at £94 post benefit reform would with the fixed costs included make that figure in the region of £95.
Has Haringey Borough Council reviewed the standard level it claims for costs from Enfield and Haringey Magistrates Court to reflect the new levels of applications?
If not has Enfield and Haringey Magistrates Court made any adjustment to the level of costs it awards Haringey Borough Council in respect of costs?
Yours sincerely,
Dan Stevens
Dear Ms Broadbridge,
Will you please acknowledge my email sent 24 November 2013.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Stevens
Dear Mr Stevens
Thank you for your e mails.
Please accept my apologies for not responding earlier.
I have noted your comments and can confirm that we review our costs annually and consider the various impacts when doing so.
Yours sincerely
Mrs M A Broadbridge
For head of Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services
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Enid Brighton (Account suspended) left an annotation ()
"we review our costs annually and consider the various impacts when doing so."
Haringey still applies £125, so it obviously hasn't considered the impacts of increased volume of summonses caused by the introduction of the benefit reforms.
Interestingly, Haringey council used to apply costs in accordance with the regulations; initially at a lesser sum than the total in respect of the summons and a further sum on being granted the liability order.
For example in 2006/07 the summons only made up 67% of the overall costs with the liability order cost representing 33% of the total with the split being £60 and £30.
Apparently, the council decided it would no longer carry out the procedure in accordance with law a couple of years later where it replaced the two stage system with a single charge of £95 applied at the summons stage, presumably with the intention to raise additional income.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...
It has of course rocketed since and is £125