Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for your email of 17 August 2014 to the City of London (CoL).

The CoL does not consider that your request is a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Please note that section 8 of the FOIA states as follows:

"8.—(1) In this Act any reference to a 'request for information' is a Request for
reference to such a request which—
(a) is in writing,
(b) states the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence"

For further guidance, please see the guidance “Recognising a request made under the Freedom of Information Act (Section 8)”, published on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:

http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/guid...

You will see that the ICO states that “the intention of the legislation is for the requester to provide their real name … For a request to be valid, the requester must provide enough of their real name to give anyone reading that request a reasonable indication of their identity”, and that “the absence of a real name would make it technically invalid under Section 8(1)(b)” of the FOIA.

As the ICO indicates, without any distinguishing identity in the form of a proper name, it is clear that applicants could, over time, circumvent the section 12 and section 14(1) provisions of the Act. The guidance also states that “to be valid under Section 8(1)(a), the request must state the real name of the party on whose behalf the agent is acting … A request which only includes the real name of the agent will be invalid”. So, if you are acting on behalf of another party, we shall also need the real name of that person, company or organisation.

In addition, the ICO states in “The Guide to Freedom of Information” (version 4, Oct 2013), that “…you [the authority receiving the request] may decide to check [an applicant’s] identity if it is clear they are using a pseudonym”. We reserve the right to do this should we consider that a pseudonym is being used.

We look forward to receiving your real name, and, if you are acting on behalf of another party, the real name of that person, company or organisation.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

City of London
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

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Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for your email.

Before we accept "N. Sternham" as your proper name, please would you clarify.

We have received two other requests from "NIFFLAGAN: the Sovereign", via Whatdotheyknow, which bear a similar but different name.

Please would you supply us with your full proper name. Should we remain dissatisfied, we shall request proof of ID, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance we quoted in our email, below, of 18 August.

In the meantime the two other requests (which we acknowledged to you on 19 August 2014 in one acknowledgement, making it clear that we understood the second one as superseding the first one) will also be on hold.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
City of London
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk<http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk>

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Dear Mr Sternham,

Thank you for your email. The City of London shall proceed with this request, below, on the basis that you have confirmed that your proper surname is ‘Sternham’ and not ‘Stronham’, ‘Stronham’ being the surname provided in the two attached requests from you:

We shall therefore also proceed with these attached requests (as mentioned, treating the second version as the final version), on the basis that you accidentally misspelt your proper surname in them.

All three requests are with effect from 26 August 2014, ie with effect from the first working day after receiving clarification and confirmation of your full proper name.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
City of London
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk<http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk>

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Dear Mr Sternham,

I refer to your request of 17^th August and further explanations and the
City’s replies of 18^th, 21^st and 26^th August. The reply of 26^th August
explained that the request would be treated as received on 25^th August.

Your individual questions and the responses are set out below:

1. What does Council Tax consist of?

Council Tax is the system of local [1]taxation which partly funds the
services provided by local government in England, Wales and Scotland. It
was introduced in England in 1993 by the [2]Local Government Finance Act
1992. Council tax applies to all domestic property, whether owned or
rented. All domestic property is valued into bands and the properties and
their bands are contained in a Valuation List maintained by the Valuation
Office Agency (part of HMRC) Discounts of varying amounts may be applied
in defined circumstances. Further information on council tax and the
services it helps fund are available on the City’s website; please see the
links below. The first link provides general information on council tax
and the second more detail on local services and how they are the funded.

[3]http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/...

[4]http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/...

2. Is non-payment of Council tax a criminal offence?

No, it is a civil offence

3. Can someone be placed in jail/prison/gaol for non-payment of council
tax?

Yes, if the reason is the wilful refusal or culpable neglect of the
council tax payer. I would refer you to Regulations 47 and 48 of the
Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) regulations 1992.

4. Is non-payment of council tax dealt with as a criminal offence or civil
offence?

Non payment is dealt with as a civil offence in the Magistrates’ Court.

5. What specific (statutory) offence consist of non-payment of council
tax?

Each billing authority is obliged by the Local Government Finance act 1992
to levy and collect council tax each financial year. Non payment is an
offence in accordance with this Act.

6. Can negotiation(s) take place between councils and residents to
compromise over cost(s) of council tax?

No, council tax is a statutory debt. The amounts for each band are set by
each billing authority each year and are not negotiable. There may be
consultation with tax payers as a whole before the council tax is actually
determined but no negotiations with individuals. Discounts are available
in some circumstances; these are provided for in the legislation and are
awarded in accordance with that legislation. They are not subject to
negotiation.

There is a wealth of information about council tax publicly available.
Below are links to the text of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and
the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

[5]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992...

[6]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/1992/613

Below are links to the websites of the Department of Communities and Local
Government (DCLG) and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB) which contain
further information.

[7]https://www.gov.uk/council-tax

[8]http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/ta...

If you wish to make a complaint about the way the CoL has managed your
enquiry under the FOIA, please make your complaint in writing to email
address: [email address]. For a link to the CoL’s FOI
complaints procedure, please visit the following page:
[9]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback, at the end of which is located the
FOI complaints procedure. If, having used the CoL’s FOI Complaints
Procedure, you are still dissatisfied, you may request the Information
Commissioner to investigate. Please contact: Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: (01625)
545700. Website: [10]http://www.ico.org.uk/

The FOIA applies to the City of London as a local authority, police
authority and port health authority.

The City of London holds the copyright in this email. The supply of it
does not give a right to re-use it in a way that would infringe that
copyright, for example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to
the public or to any other person. Brief extracts of any of the material
may be reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of
research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and
news reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of the copyright owner.

Yours sincerely,

Head of Revenues,

City of London

P.O.Box 270, Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ

Website: [11]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

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References

Visible links
1. Taxation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation
2. Local Government Finance Act 1992
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Gover...
3. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/...
4. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/...
5. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992...
6. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/1992/613
7. https://www.gov.uk/council-tax
8. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/ta...
9. file:///tmp/www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback
10. http://www.ico.org.uk/
11. file:///tmp/www.cityoflondon.gov.uk