Exercising discretion when applying to the court for a Council Tax Liability Order

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council,

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (the "Regulations") confer a duty on the billing authority to exercise discretion under regulation 34(1) when deciding whether to institute a complaint to the Magistrates' court to enforce payment.

Regulation 34(1) as amended by Regulation 15 of SI 1992/3008 states, with the relevant part emphasised, as follows:

"If an amount which has fallen due under paragraph (3) or (4) of regulation 23 (including those paragraphs as applied as mentioned in regulation 28A(2)) is wholly or partly unpaid, or (in a case where a final notice is required under regulation 33) the amount stated in the final notice is wholly or partly unpaid at the expiry of the period of 7 days beginning with the day on which the notice was issued, THE BILLING AUTHORITY MAY, in accordance with paragraph (2), apply to a magistrates' court for an order against the person by whom it is payable."

Regulation 34(2) states as follows:

"The application is to be instituted by making complaint to a justice of the peace, and requesting the issue of a summons directed to that person to appear before the court to show why he has not paid the sum which is outstanding."

The following are examples (but by no means exhaustive) of what are reasonable factors a recovery officer should take into account in exercising discretion to institute a complaint to the Magistrates court under paragraph (2) of regulation 34 of the Regulations:

1. the level of debt outstanding

2. any payments made subsequent to the full amount becoming due and time remaining of the financial year

3. are circumstances indicative of the debt being settled without resorting to enforcement

4. consider if enforcing the debt would unnecessarily subject the taxpayer to additional costs etc. and therefore amount to a penalty (see 3 above)

5. ensure monies have been prioritised to maintaining the in-year debt

6. allocate to the in-year any monies posted to arrears (or sufficient of it) that would if it had not been misallocated prevented the in-year liability also falling in arrears (see 5 above)

7. check for benefit claims or appeals already in the system and refrain from taking enforcement action where such genuine cases are unresolved

Q1. Does Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council exercise discretion before proceeding under regulation 34(2) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to request a summons from a justice of the peace (it may be an automated process)

Q2. If yes to (1) what factors are taken into consideration

Yours faithfully,

Helen Barker

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Dear Helen Barker,

 

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request and will
liaise with the relevant Department in order to provide a response.

 

We will endeavour to provide this information within 20 working days.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Information Governance Team / Tîm Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth

 

H  Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

       Legal Section, The General Offices, Steel Works Road, Ebbw
Vale, South Wales NP23 6DN

H   Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent

       Mae'r Adain Gyfreithiol, Y Swyddfeydd Cyffredinol, Heol Gwaith Dur,
Glyn Ebwy NP23 6DN

 

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiarth yn Gymraeg a saesneg a byddwn yn
cyfathrebu gyda chi yn eich dewis iaith, dim ond I chi rhoi gwybod I ni pa
un sydd well gennych. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in Welsh and English and we will
communicate with you in the language of your choice, as long as you let us
know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

 

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request, you can ask us to
review our response. Requests for reviews should be submitted within 40
days of the date of receipt of our response to your original request –
email: [1][Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council request email].

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our review, you can write to the
Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office - Wales

2^nd Floor Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Telephone: 0330 414 6421

Email: [2][email address]

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council,

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council should have responded by now.

Yours faithfully,

Helen Barker

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Dear Helen Barker,

We apologise for the delay in responding to your FOI request. At present the Council is heavily involved in the relief effort regarding COVID19 and some of our services have been impacted as a consequence. This is applicable for not only services that are considered critical at this time but also for other areas of the Council where staff have been redeployed to assist with critical services or are suffering staff shortages as a direct result of COVID19.

Please be reassured that we will attempt to respond to your request at the earliest possible date.

Thank you for your patience during this difficult time

Kind regards

Information Governance Team
Tîm Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth

 Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Legal Section, The General Offices, Steel Works Road, Ebbw Vale, South Wales NP23 6DN
 Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent
Mae'r Adain Gyfreithiol, Y Swyddfeydd Cyffredinol, Heol Gwaith Dur, Glyn Ebwy NP23 6DN

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiarth yn Gymraeg a saesneg a byddwn yn cyfathrebu gyda chi yn eich dewis iaith, dim ond I chi rhoi gwybod I ni pa un sydd well gennych. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.
The Council welcomes correspondence in Welsh and English and we will communicate with you in the language of your choice, as long as you let us know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

* For future reference please can all future FOI requests be submitted via the following link: [email address]
and for all general enquiries please contact the Council’s Contact Centre on: [email address] or tel no: 01495311556

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request, you can ask us to review our response. Requests for reviews should be submitted within 40 days of the date of receipt of our response to your original request – email: [Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council request email].
If you are unhappy with the outcome of our review, you can write to the Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office - Wales
2nd Floor Churchill House
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Telephone: 0330 4146421
Email: [email address]

show quoted sections