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Council Tax

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Stuart Hopkins
Delivered

Dear Horsham District Council,

Please provide me with the figures of people in the boro who are in receipt of Universal credit

Of those people who are in receipt of the Universal Credit, please provide me the following

1. Are currently in arrears
2. Have received a court Summons
3. Have actually attended court because of the summons
4. Have been able to put their case forward in front of the presiding judge to prove they cannot physically pay the amount owed.
5. Have successfully proved council tax is unlawful.

When the case supposedly goes to court, is the judge handed a pile of summons papers, to which he then simply signs a piece of paper awarding them all in the favour of the council and does not look at each case individually.

Horesham District council would have a record of these cases since they would be either the claimant or defendant.

Yours faithfully,
Stuart Hopkins

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Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 / Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR) 2004 / Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018

Thank you for your information request which is being dealt with under the
terms of the relevant legislation.

FOI and EIR requests will be answered within twenty working days. EIR
requests may require an extension of time to 40 working days where the
complexity and volume of the information requested means that it is
impracticable either to comply with the request within the earlier period
or to make a decision to refuse to do so.

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If you have any queries about this request please contact us via
[Horsham District Council request email] quoting the reference number in the subject line of
this email.

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team

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Beccy Salmon,

Dear Stuart Hopkins

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Response

 

Further to our acknowledgement we can now respond to your request for
information dated 15/05/2024 asking about Court summons from council tax
for people on universal credit.

 

We have dealt with your request in accordance with ‘your right to know’
under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), which
entitles you to be provided with a copy of any information ‘held’ by a
public authority, unless an appropriate exemption applies.

 

In your email of 15/05/2024 you asked the following questions:

 

 1. 493
 2. 299
 3. Unfortunately this information is not recorded as part of our court
hearing processes
 4. Unfortunately this information is not recorded as part of our court
hearing processes
 5. Unfortunately this information is not recorded as part of our court
hearing processes

 

If you wish to re-use the information supplied for any purpose other than
personal or non-commercial use you will need to make a written application
to the relevant department of the Council or author of the material
concerned.

 

Any information which you receive which is not subject to Horsham District
Council copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the
person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must
ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party
(non HDC) information.

 

If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to request a review of
our decision or make a complaint about how your request has been handled
you should write to The Reviewing Officer, Legal & Democratic Services,
Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1RL or by email to
[1][Horsham District Council request email]

 

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response.  Any such request
received after this time will be considered at the discretion of the Legal
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appeal to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, SK9 5AF.  Further details of this process are available on the
ICO website at [2]www.ICO.org.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Beccy Salmon

 

Beccy Salmon

Operations Manager (Horsham Revenues & Benefits) 

Milton Keynes City Council & Horsham District Council

 

To speak with me: use Microsoft Teams or 07765341130

 

Milton Keynes City Council | Civic | 1 Saxon Gate East | Milton Keynes |
MK9 3EJ

[3]www.milton-keynes.gov.uk

 

 

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Stuart Hopkins
Delivered

Dear Beccy Salmon,

Please respond to this question.

When the case supposedly goes to court, is the judge handed a pile of summons papers, to which he then simply signs a piece of paper awarding them all in the favour of the council and does not look at each case individually.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hopkins

Link to this Report
Beccy Salmon,

I am on leave today and will respond to your email when I return tomorrow.

Link to this Report
Beccy Salmon,

Dear Mr Hopkins

Council tax must be paid in accordance with the instalments indicated on
the annual bill. Being in receipt of Universal Credit does not mean there
will be no liability to pay Council tax and such accounts may receive a
summons should they fall into arrears. If any instalments are missed and
the account is not brought up to date, the whole amount due for the year
becomes payable immediately, after 14 days from the issue of a reminder
notice. The Council can then apply to a Magistrates’ court for a liability
order under the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations
1992.

 

All summonses must be approved by the court service first, and are then
issued to the Council Tax payers whose accounts are in arrears.

 

At the hearing, the Billing Authority is required to present evidence on
oath to the court that the amounts due have been demanded in accordance
with the relevant legislation. There will be multiple accounts issued with
a summons and a list of these accounts including details of the name and
address of each defendant(s), amount outstanding and court costs, is
presented to the Magistrates or District Judge for consideration.

 

If the court agrees that all the cases on the list have unpaid amounts and
that the Billing Authority has provided the evidence required by the
legislation, then a bulk liability order will be granted and signed by a
Magistrate or Judge.

 

 Yours Sincerely

Beccy

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Stuart Hopkins <[1][FOI #1130683 email]>
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 14:11
To: Beccy Salmon <[2][email address]>
Subject: Re: Court summons from council tax for people on universal credit
HDCIR:7638

 

CAUTION: This email originated outside of Milton Keynes City Council.
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above.

Dear Beccy Salmon,

Please respond to this question.

When the case supposedly goes to court, is the judge handed a pile of
summons papers, to which he then simply signs a piece of paper awarding
them all in the favour of the council and does not look at each case
individually.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hopkins

If one of our team has gone the extra mile to help you today, [3] please click here to tell us about it.

Any personal data will be processed in line with the [4]Data Protection legislation

This email and any attachments hereto are strictly confidential and intended solely for the addressee. It may contain information which is privileged. If you are not the intended addressee, you must not disclose, forward, copy or take any action in reliance of this email or attachments. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify us as soon as possible.

The anti-virus software used by Milton Keynes City Council is updated regularly in an effort to minimise the possibility of viruses infecting our systems. However, you should be aware that there is no absolute guarantee that any files attached to this email are virus free.

Any personal data will be processed in line with the Data Protection legislation, further details at https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/privacy

This email and any attachments hereto are strictly confidential and intended solely for the addressee. It may contain information which is privileged. If you are not the intended addressee, you must not disclose, forward, copy or take any action in reliance of this email or attachments. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify us as soon as possible.

The anti-virus software used by Milton Keynes City Council is updated regularly in an effort to minimise the possibility of viruses infecting our systems. However, you should be aware that there is no absolute guarantee that any files attached to this email are virus free.

References

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2. mailto:[email address]
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4. https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/privacy

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