Council tax arrears

The request was partially successful.

Dear Middlesbrough Council,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

I would like to know if any serving councillors have council tax arrears. For each serving councillor that has council tax arrears, please provide the following information:

- The name of the serving councillor
- The total amount that they owe [and then, if possible, please provide a breakdown of that figure of how much they owe by financial year]
- If held, the reasons why the serving councillor has council tax arrears
- The action taken by the council to pursue the individual and the outcome

I would like to receive the information electronically. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable time frame, or the request is too broad or too vague, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I could refine the request. Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Jenna Corderoy

foi, Middlesbrough Council

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Dear Ms Corderoy

 

REF NO: 011670

 

Thank you for your recent enquiry, received on 04/09/2017, in relation
to Councillor Council Tax.  I can confirm that your enquiry is receiving
attention and a response will be provided within 20 working days following
receipt of your enquiry as allowed under the Freedom of Information Act
legislation.

 

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact me direct on (01642) 729696/729698 or
email [2][Middlesbrough Council request email] should you require any further advice or
assistance with this or any other matter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Assistant

Middlesbrough Council

Democratic Services

Organisation and Governance

PO Box 503

Town Hall

Middlesbrough

TS1 9FX

 

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2. mailto:[Middlesbrough Council request email]

foi, Middlesbrough Council

                                       

 

Dear Ms Corderoy

 

REF NO:011670

 

I am writing to confirm that Middlesbrough Council has now completed its
search for the information you requested on 4th September 2017, in
relation to Council Tax. Please accept my apologies for the delay in
responding to your request.

In your request you asked for the following information:

I would like to know if any serving councillors have council tax arrears.
For each serving councillor that has council tax arrears, please provide
the following information:

 

- The name of the serving councillor

- The total amount that they owe [and then, if possible, please provide a
breakdown of that figure of how much they owe by financial year]

- If held, the reasons why the serving councillor has council tax arrears

- The action taken by the council to pursue the individual and the outcome

 

Response: I can advise you that one Councillor had a single instalment of
£73 outstanding for September 2017.  A reminder notice was issued to bring
the account up to date, which the Councillor then resolved.

 

In relation to your request for the name of the serving Councillor, I can
confirm that the Council does hold information falling within the scope of
your request.  However the Council considers this information to be exempt
from disclosure under section 40 (2) (Personal information) of the Freedom
of Information Act.  This is because the information constitutes personal
data as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and disclosing it
would breach the fair processing principle set out in the DPA.

 

The Council considers that this meets the definition for personal data set
out in Section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 ("DPA") as:

 

"data which relate to a living individual who can be identified - (a) from
those data, or (b) from those data and other information which is in the
possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data
controller and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and
any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other
person in respect of the individual"

 

The individual involved would have no reasonable expectation that this
information would be disclosed to the world at large under the under the
Freedom of Information Act, which is how any disclosure under the Act must
be viewed.

 

In a recent Tribunal case [1]Haslam v Information Commissioner and Bolton
Council [2016] UKUT 0139 (AAC) (10 March 2016), a Council was ordered to
release the names of Councillors who had been summoned to court for
failure to pay council tax.  This information would be placed into the
public domain and would trigger section 106 of the Local Government
Finance Act 1992, which bars a councillor from voting on the Council’s
budget if he or she has an outstanding council tax debt of this nature.  
I can confirm that no summonses were issued in respect of the Councillor
identified in the scope of your request.

 

In respect of your request to know the reason why the serving Councillor
had council tax arrears, this information is not held by the Council.

If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to
contact me direct on (01642) 729696/729698 or email
[Middlesbrough Council request email].  Please remember to quote the reference number
shown above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled you may ask
for an internal review within 40 days of receipt of the response. You
should write to:-

Sylvia Reynolds,
Members & Statutory Services Manager,
P.O. Box 503,
Ground Floor,
Town Hall,
Middlesbrough,
TS1 9FX

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for an
independent review.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: -

Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Steph Robson

Information & Compliance Officer

Finance, Governance & Support

P.O. Box 503
Ground Floor
Town Hall
Middlesbrough
TS1 9FX

Tel.  01642 729696

Email:   [Middlesbrough Council request email]
 

 

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company names, and logos are the property of Middlesbrough Council, or of
their respective owners.  Reproduction, alterations, modification,
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References

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1. http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC/...