Councillors and Council Tax Arrears

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council did not have the information requested.

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

FOI Requests, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Morris

Council Response 2019 /04/015

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding council tax.
Councils in Northern Ireland are not responsible for domestic nor non
domestic rates and therefore Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council does
not hold the information you have requested. You may wish to direct your
enquiry to Land & Property Services, the agency responsible for mapping,
land registration, rating and valuation in Northern Ireland. Contact
details are as follows:

Information Manager
Land & Property Services
Information Management Unit
4th Floor
Lanyon Plaza
7 Lanyon Place
Town Parks
Belfast
BT1 3LP

Tel: 028 9033 6077
email: [email address]

We trust that this resolves your Freedom of Information request. However,
if you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have handled your request
for information you may request an internal review by contacting:

Liz Johnston
Head of Governance
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Antrim Civic Centre
50 Stiles Way
BT41 2UB

Email: [email address]

If after the internal review is carried out you remain dissatisfied you
may appeal to the Information Commissioner by contacting:

Information Commissioner’s Office
3rd Floor
14 Cromac Place
Belfast
BT7 2JB

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards
Helen Leung
Information Governance Assistant

FOI Requests​
[1]Antrim Civic Centre, 50 Stiles way, [4]Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough
Antrim.  BT41 2UB Council
T:  [2]028 9446 3113
E:  [3][Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council request email]
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