Allocation of funds towards council tax

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

Dear Maidstone Borough Council,

Allocation of funds towards council tax

Please can you confirm what the council policy is when money is sent to the council for council tax are these payments allocated to the current outstanding bill.

For example if someone already had a charging order granted by the court on their home for a previous council tax bill , does the council automatically put the funds towards the current outstanding bill or would the funds be used instead to pay off the charging order first or does this only get collected when the property is sold.

And could Maidstone Borough Council please cite the relevant case law which supports allocating monies to the oldest debt first unless the payer asks specifically for it to be allocated elsewhere?

Please also confirm that when a letter has been sent after payment has been made that you allocate the funds to the customer preference

Please can I also have a copy of your policy .

Yours faithfully,

D Speller

ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Dear Mr Speller

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

Ref: FOI 5704

Thank you for your request for information. We will have a response ready for you within 20 working days of the date you made your request.

After considering your request, we may decide to refuse to supply the information under a number of exemptions that exist in legislation. For details of these exemptions, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Samuel Bailey
Information and Projects Officer
Policy and Information Team
Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent
ME15 6JQ
t 01622 602263 f 01622 602978 w www.maidstone.gov.uk

show quoted sections

ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Dear Mr Speller,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - FOI 5704

 

You wrote to us requesting information on Council Tax payments.

 

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and
electronic records, I have established that the information you requested
is not held by this Council. To be of advice and assistance to you I will
explain why we do not hold the information you have requested below.

 

We do not have a formal policy for allocating council tax payments, as
this is dealt with through convention and standardised practices.

 

When a payment is made against a council tax account, if the payment does
not match an agreed payment (either for the current year’s charge or any
agreement that has been made on debts from previous years) then it will be
automatically allocated to the oldest debt on the account.

 

We do not need to provide the case law to back this practice up as we
should not be providing legal advice via the Freedom of Information Act.
If you wish to challenge our practices on council tax payments the way to
do this is through the courts, after consulting with a suitably qualified
legal professional.

 

In answer to your query about contacting us after a payment has been made,
[1]our website clearly states:

 

‘If you have Council Tax arrears and the payment you make does not match
the amount that is due for the current year, then your payment will be
allocated to the oldest debt. You'll need to let us know which debt you
are making a payment for, by emailing [2][email address]
calling 01622 602003.’

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review of our decision, respond to this
email and I will pass it on to Mid Kent Legal Services to conduct a
review. Please ensure you outline your reasons for requesting a review.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Council.  The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Samuel Bailey

Information and Projects Officer

Policy and Information Team

Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent

ME15 6JQ

t 01622 602263 f 01622 602978 w [3]www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

To access our digital services please visit www.maidstone.gov.uk/service

Sign up to receive your Council Tax bill by email http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/emailbilling

This email is confidential. If you receive it by mistake, please advise the sender by email immediately.
Any unauthorised use of the message or attachments is prohibited. Unless stated otherwise, any opinions are personal and cannot be attributed to Maidstone Borough Council.
Unless a purchase order is attached this email is not a contract or an order.
It is your responsibility to carry out Virus checks before opening any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/residents/co...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/

Dear ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC),

Please clarify what you mean by "this is dealt with through convention and standardised practises" and provide a copy of these practices. Please confirm If Maidstone Borough Council uses any case law and if so provide a copy of what case law you use.

Yours sincerely,

D Speller

ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Dear Mr Speller,

Please read your original request and our subsequent response. We do not hold the information you are seeking and to be of advice and assistance I have already outlined what the convention/standard practice is in relation to council tax payments that you have requested. By its very nature it is not recorded information so there is nothing to disclose.

If you wish to challenge the way in which we administer council tax you should consult with a suitably qualified legal professional and challenge us in court. We will not be providing you with case law as it is not information that we would hold, and it is not the function of the FOI act for public authorities to provide members of the public with legal advice.

I consider this request closed and will not be responding any further.

Yours sincerely,

Samuel Bailey
Information and Projects Officer
Policy and Information Team
Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent
ME15 6JQ
t 01622 602263 f 01622 602978 w www.maidstone.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC),

I have read it but it does not explain much apart from your council appear to be able to make up your own rules ?

Please confirm if Maidstone Borough Council uses any case law if so provide a copy of what case law you use that supports your position on allocating monies to the oldest debt first, unless the payer ask specifically for it to be allocated elsewhere, and if you are sent a letter after payment has been made if you allocate the funds to the customers preference.

Yours sincerely,

D Speller

Dear ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC),

Please let me know when you will be giving me a clear answer to my email 22 December 2016 and providing a copy of the case law and confirming if you are sent a letter after payment has been made if you allocate funds to the customers preference.

Yours sincerely,

D Speller

ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Dear Mr Speller,

As my colleague has stated, we consider this request closed.

If you wish to challenge the way in which we administer council tax you should consult with a suitably qualified legal professional and challenge us in court. We will not be providing you with case law as it is not information that we would hold, and it is not the function of the FOI act for public authorities to provide members of the public with legal advice.

Kind regards,

Alex Munden
Performance and Business Information Officer
Policy & Information Team
Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6JQ
t 01622 602613 e [email address] w www.maidstone.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear ComplaintsAndFOI (MBC),

Just because your colleague considered this FOI request closed and does not wish to provide the answers , does not make it so.

Maidstone Borough Council have still not stated if Maidstone Borough Council uses case law and have completely ignored and failed to say as others council's have done, if when you are sent a letter sent after payment has been made, whether you allocate funds to your customers preference ?

Of are you stating that Maidstone Borough Council Officers are allowed to act unconscionably and can do as they wilt ?

Yours sincerely,

D Speller

D Speller left an annotation ()

Maidstone Borough Council is one of the most dishonest local authorities who refuse to answer FOI requests in a straight forward and honest way.

What right does Maidstone Borough Council Staff have to decide that they can treat the people of Maidstone with such contempt ?

D Speller left an annotation ()

Thank you for confirming that Maidstone Borough Council staff do act unconscionably, because It is not for Maidstone Borough Council to decide if they should or should not reject your customers intentions in their letters, sent to your staff who are supposed to provide a service and not to steal their money for the council.

The whole purpose of sending a letter after payment is to distinguish between yearly accounts because your system does not, clearly one account will be in arrears and it is up to your customers to decide which account they wish to pay, as multiple honest council's have already stated.

Maidstone Borough Council have no right to take it upon themselves to treat their customers money as if it was their own.

Do your staff who take it upon themselves to deliberately act in a dishonest and unconscionable way by placing the funds into an account to gain the council and their associates more revenue, refund the funds they have stolen by deliberately putting them into the wrong account, or do you just keep it; which is theft ?