Council tax

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

To whom it may concern,

Please can I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

1a) In £, the total amount of Council Tax which was unpaid, by municipal year from 2012/13 and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1b) The total amount of Council Tax, in £, which was owed but never paid by Universal Credit claimants since 2012/13 (broken down by municipal year and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1c) The number of households in receipt of Universal Credit which are currently in arrears on their Council Tax;

2) Since the national introduction of Universal Credit from 2013 onwards, has your authority had to reduce the number of housing officers dealing with benefits queries because of a reduction in government funding? If so, please provide figures for government funding (in £) and staffing numbers (in Full Time Equivalents) before and after these reductions.

If my request cannot be met within cost limits, please can you provide me with advice on how I may refine my request,

Yours faithfully,

Claire Wilde

info, Lancaster City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Wilde,

I write to confirm receipt of your request for information, which was
received on 15th March 2019 and is now being processed under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. Your request has been given the unique reference
number as stated in the subject header above and you should quote this
reference number in all correspondence. You should receive our response
within 20 working days; this means that you can expect to receive the
requested information by 12th April 2019. If we are unable to deal with
your request within that time limit or the Council does not hold the
information or there is a reason for it to be withheld, we will promptly
advise you in writing.

If you have any queries or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact
me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Kind regards,

Amy Holland

Information Governance Manager

Data Protection Officer

Email: [1][Lancaster City Council request email]

Tel:      (01524) 58 2000

 

Governance (Information Governance), Town Hall, Lancaster LA1 1PJ

Email:
[2][Lancaster City Council request email]                                                              

Website: [3]http://www.lancaster.gov.uk

 

[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D30F99.38449CF0   [5]cid:image002.jpg@01D29817.500BB520

     [6]www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

 

[7]cid:image003.png@01D4B723.AA64FB30

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Lancaster City Council request email]
3. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/
5. https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/
6. http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
8. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/disclaimer

info, Lancaster City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Wilde,

Freedom of Information Request - Ref: FOI 2450

Thank you for your request received on 15th March 2019 in which you asked
for the following information from Lancaster City Council:

 

You asked: “Please can I request the following information under the
Freedom of Information Act:

1a) In £, the total amount of Council Tax which was unpaid, by municipal
year from 2012/13 and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1b) The total amount of Council Tax, in £, which was owed but never paid
by Universal Credit claimants since 2012/13 (broken down by municipal year
and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1c) The number of households in receipt of Universal Credit which are
currently in arrears on their Council Tax;

2) Since the national introduction of Universal Credit from 2013 onwards,
has your authority had to reduce the number of housing officers dealing
with benefits queries because of a reduction in government funding? If so,
please provide figures for government funding (in £) and staffing numbers
(in Full Time Equivalents) before and after these reductions.”

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).

 

Response

 

1a)  Please see table below:

 

Year Unpaid Council Tax (£) Notes
2012/13 2441536  
2013/14 3130456  
2014/15 3159307  
2015/26 3759398  
2016/17 3625889  
2017/18 4023647  
2018/19 6825189 (as at 01/03/2019)

 

1b), 1c) and 2) – we cannot provide an answer to these questions as we
have no way of determining  who is and who is not on Universal Credit
unless they are claiming Council Tax support.

 

If you have any queries or concerns about this response, please contact
this office. For details of how to appeal a decision we have made, see
below.

 

How to Appeal

 

Internal Review

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to an
internal review.  The handling of your request will be looked at by
someone who was not responsible for the original case, and they will make
a decision as to whether we answered your request correctly.

 

If you would like to request a review, please write or send an email to
the Council at the following address:

 

Information Governance

Lancaster City Council

Town Hall

Dalton Square

Lancaster

LA1 1PJ

 

Email:  [1][Lancaster City Council request email]

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

 

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the
right to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Commissioner
is an independent regulator who has the power to direct us to respond to
your request differently if she considers that we have handled it
incorrectly.

 

You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following
address:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a
national rate number

Website:  [2]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

 

 

Re-use of Public-Sector Information

 

Some of the information that we provide in response to FOIA requests will
be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be
owned by Lancaster City Council. The copyright in other information may be
owned by another person or organisation, as indicated on the information
itself.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own non-commercial
research or private study purposes. The information may also be used for
any other purpose allowed by a limitation or exception in copyright law,
such as news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example by
publishing the information in analogue or digital form, including on the
internet, will require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

For information where the copyright is owned by Lancaster City Council,
please contact this office if you would like to request permission.

 

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
organisation you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their
permission.

 

Yours sincerely

Amy Holland

Information Governance Manager

Data Protection Officer

Email: [3][Lancaster City Council request email]

Tel:      (01524) 58 2000

 

Governance (Information Governance), Town Hall, Lancaster LA1 1PJ

Email:
[4][Lancaster City Council request email]                                                              

Website: [5]http://www.lancaster.gov.uk

 

[6]cid:image002.jpg@01D30F99.38449CF0   [7]cid:image002.jpg@01D29817.500BB520

     [8]www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

 

[9]cid:image003.png@01D4B723.AA64FB30

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Claire Wilde <[FOI #561737 email]>
Sent: 15 March 2019 18:01
To: info <[Lancaster City Council request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Council tax

To whom it may concern,

Please can I request the following information under the Freedom of
Information Act:

1a) In £, the total amount of Council Tax which was unpaid, by municipal
year from 2012/13 and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1b) The total amount of Council Tax, in £, which was owed but never paid
by Universal Credit claimants since 2012/13 (broken down by municipal year
and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);

1c) The number of households in receipt of Universal Credit which are
currently in arrears on their Council Tax;

2) Since the national introduction of Universal Credit from 2013 onwards,
has your authority had to reduce the number of housing officers dealing
with benefits queries because of a reduction in government funding? If so,
please provide figures for government funding (in £) and staffing numbers
(in Full Time Equivalents) before and after these reductions.

If my request cannot be met within cost limits, please can you provide me
with advice on how I may refine my request,

Yours faithfully,

Claire Wilde

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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-------------------------------------------------------------------

UK businesses use up 2 million tonnes of paper each year. Think before you
print this email - do you really need to? Thank you. 

An Investor in People/Positive about Disabled People.

[13]DISCLAIMER:

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Lancaster City Council request email]
2. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[Lancaster City Council request email]
5. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/
7. https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/
8. http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
10. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
11. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
12. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
13. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/disclaimer

hide quoted sections

Thank you for this response.

With regards to 1b, 1c and 2, in light of what you have said, can I please ask for the information relating to those who are on Universal Credit and claiming Council Tax support.

Kind regards,
Claire Wilde

info, Lancaster City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Wilde,

I write to confirm receipt of your new request for information, which was
received on 4th April 2019 and is now being processed under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Your request has been given the unique reference
number as stated in the subject header above and you should quote this
reference number in all correspondence. You should receive our response
within 20 working days; this means that you can expect to receive the
requested information by 7th May 2019. If we are unable to deal with your
request within that time limit or the Council does not hold the
information or there is a reason for it to be withheld, we will promptly
advise you in writing.

If you have any queries or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact
me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Kind regards,

Amy Holland

Information Governance Manager

Data Protection Officer

Email: [1][Lancaster City Council request email]

Tel:      (01524) 58 2000

 

Governance (Information Governance), Town Hall, Lancaster LA1 1PJ

Email:
[2][Lancaster City Council request email]                                                              

Website: [3]http://www.lancaster.gov.uk

 

[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D30F99.38449CF0   [5]cid:image002.jpg@01D29817.500BB520

     [6]www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

 

[7]cid:image003.png@01D4B723.AA64FB30

 

 

UK businesses use up 2 million tonnes of paper each year. Think before you
print this email - do you really need to? Thank you. 

An Investor in People/Positive about Disabled People.

[8]DISCLAIMER:

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Lancaster City Council request email]
3. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/
5. https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/
6. http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
8. http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/disclaimer