Councillors and Council Tax Arrears

The request was 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

BMSDC Data Protection,

Dear Ms Morris,

Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations request

Thank you for your request to Mid Suffolk District Council dated 12 April 2019. Your request will be answered within 20 working days.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact us. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection
Tel: 0300 1234000 Email: [email address]
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk
Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils - Working Together
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX

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BMSDC Data Protection,

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Morris,

We refer to your recent request for information.

Request:

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

Response:

Please see the attached spreadsheet.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Please contact us if you wish to re-use the information for commercial purposes so that the appropriate licence can be issued (in some instances a fee will be payable). Additionally, you must ensure that you gain permission before reproducing any third party (non Babergh/Mid Suffolk District Council copyright) information.

If you are unhappy with this response you may request an internal review of this matter via the Council’s corporate complaints procedure. If you are not content with the outcome of the review you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at the following address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Tel: 01625 545 745 Email: [email address].

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection
Tel: 0300 1234000
Email: [email address]
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils - Working Together Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX

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