Councillors and Council Tax Arrears

The request was partially successful.

Hello,

I'm writing to you in the hope of obtaining information relating to the number of reminder letters and summons sent to elected councillors in your authority area since 2015/16.

I'd prefer to receive the information in Excel spreadsheet - xlsx or xls - format and if you cannot provide the information in full, I would like to request that you provide as much as you are able to within the cost and time limits of the Act.

If you need clarification or can suggest ways in which the request can be refined in order for it to be successful, I'd be grateful if you could contact me as soon as possible.

Please note that there is precedent for councillors to be named in relation to this issue - the High Court ruled in March 2015 that they should not have their identities protected when it comes to non-payment of council tax.

I'd like to know the following:

1. How many unpaid council tax reminders were sent to councillors elected in your authority between 2015/16 and 2017/18? Please break down by financial year?

2. How many councillors were summonsed to court or given summary warrants in the same period? Again, please break down by financial year.

3a. How many reminders were issued to the councillors named? Please break down by year.

3b. For each instance, please provide the name of each councillor, the party they represent or represented at the time and the amount of council tax owed according to sums requested in the letter. Please also provide the amount of council tax that remains outstanding.

3c. Please also state for each councillor, whether they were barred from voting on the council's budget as a result of their council tax arrears and whether any summons received resulted in a court hearing going ahead.

I'd be grateful if you could provide the information for questions 1 and 2 as totals for your authority and present the rest of the information within a spreadsheet with the following columns:

Financial Year - Authority Name - Councillor Name - Party - No of Reminders - No of Summons - Amount Owed According to Reminders - Court Hearing Y/N - Outcome of Hearing - Banned from Voting Y/N - Current Sum Outstanding

Yours faithfully,

Joanna Morris

East Dunbartonshire Council

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East Dunbartonshire Council

Dear Ms Morris

Thank you for your request for information. In answer to your enquiry I
have attached our information from East Dunbartonshire Council.

1. How many unpaid council tax reminders were sent to councillors elected
in your authority between 2015/16 and 2017/18? Please break down by
financial year?

7

With regards to your questions 2 and all of 3

I can advise, under Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002, that the number individuals identified in answer to
your request is less than 5 (but more than 0). The Council is unable to
provide you with the exact number. It is likely that releasing the number
would allow for the identification of particular individuals.

Information that enables an individual to be identified is personal
information. The Council?s use of personal information must meet the
requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data
Protection Act 2018. The Council is unable to release personal information
in answer to a Freedom of Information request unless this can be justified
under the legislation. Personal information cannot be released where doing
so would be a breach of the data protection principles set out under GDPR.

The first data protection principle requires that the processing of
personal data be ?lawful fair and transparent.? To be lawful, one of the
basis for processing in Article 6 of GDPR must be met. In order to disclose
this personal information to you an Article 6 condition must be satisfied.

I regret to advise that no such condition allows the Council to disclose
this information into the public domain. As no condition can be satisfied,
to disclose this information would be a breach of the first data protection
principle and therefore disclosure is exempt under section 38(1)(b) of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

I trust that the above information satisfies your request however if you
are dissatisfied with the way in which East Dunbartonshire Council
responded to your request, you are entitled to require the Council to
review its decision. The review will be handled by staff who were not
involved in the original decision. Please note that in order for a review
to take place you must:

- Lodge a written requirement for a review within 40 working days of the
date of this letter
- Include a correspondence address and a description of the original
request and the reason why you are dissatisfied.
- Address your request to the Freedom of Information Officer:

Stephen Armstrong
Freedom of Information/Data Protection Officer,
East Dunbartonshire Council,
Telephone No. 0141-578 8057
Fax No. 0141-578 8117
[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]

The review will be handled by staff who were not involved in the original
decision. You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20
working days of receipt of your request. The notice will state the
findings of the review as well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner if you are still dissatisfied with the Council?s
response. You must request an internal review by the Council before a
complaint can be directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely

Carol Smith
Team Leader - Revenues & Benefits
East Dunbartonshire Council
0141 578 8369
[email address]

From: Joanna Morris <[FOI #567903 email]>
To: FOI requests at East Dunbartonshire Council
<[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]>
Date: 12/04/2019 16:19
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Councillors and Council Tax
Arrears

Hello,

I'm writing to you in the hope of obtaining information relating to the
number of reminder letters and summons sent to elected councillors in your
authority area since 2015/16.

I'd prefer to receive the information in Excel spreadsheet - xlsx or xls -
format and if you cannot provide the information in full, I would like to
request that you provide as much as you are able to within the cost and
time limits of the Act.

If you need clarification or can suggest ways in which the request can be
refined in order for it to be successful, I'd be grateful if you could
contact me as soon as possible.

Please note that there is precedent for councillors to be named in relation
to this issue - the High Court ruled in March 2015 that they should not
have their identities protected when it comes to non-payment of council
tax.

I'd like to know the following:

1. How many unpaid council tax reminders were sent to councillors elected
in your authority between 2015/16 and 2017/18? Please break down by
financial year?

2. How many councillors were summonsed to court or given summary warrants
in the same period? Again, please break down by financial year.

3a. How many reminders were issued to the councillors named? Please break
down by year. -

3b. For each instance, please provide the name of each councillor, the
party they represent or represented at the time and the amount of council
tax owed according to sums requested in the letter. Please also provide
the amount of council tax that remains outstanding.

3c. Please also state for each councillor, whether they were barred from
voting on the council's budget as a result of their council tax arrears and
whether any summons received resulted in a court hearing going ahead.

I'd be grateful if you could provide the information for questions 1 and 2
as totals for your authority and present the rest of the information within
a spreadsheet with the following columns:

Financial Year - Authority Name - Councillor Name - Party - No of Reminders
- No of Summons - Amount Owed According to Reminders - Court Hearing Y/N -
Outcome of Hearing - Banned from Voting Y/N - Current Sum Outstanding

Yours faithfully,

Joanna Morris

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