Council Tax discounts

The request was successful.

Mr Harry Singh Dhillon Esq.

Dear Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead,

1> Please list all the exceptions to the usual practise of stopping a person's 25% council tax discount when a second adult occupies the same dwelling. Please also cite sources.

2> What allowance does the council make when a second person starts living in a dwelling, previously occupied by a sole person who enjoyed a 25% discount, and that second person, if charged council tax individually, would receive a discount, wholly or partially, because they are in receipt of a means-tested state provided benefit.

Yours faithfully,

Harry S Dhillon

foi, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Dear Mr Harry S Dhillon

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your information request. It has
been allocated reference number FOI73093.

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows for 20 working days to process
requests for information. This period expires on 21st December 2018.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Angelica Popa

Information Governance and Elections Officer

Law & Governance Service

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Town Hall, St. Ives Road

Maidenhead SL6 1RF

 

 

 

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Mr Harry Singh Dhillon Esq.

Dear RBWM,

You wrote something that is not entirely accurate, in my opinion.

You wrote "The Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows for 20 working days to process
requests for information."

The Act is not an excuse for unnecessary delay of any description. 20 days is supposed to be the absolutely maximum time to reply in exceptional circumstances.

Waiting for 20 days before leisurely replying was never envisaged by parliament.

The council has the information sought and that information is instantly available to staff. Please enlighten me as to the nature of the strange, and unnecessary, delay to providing the information.

Yours faithfully,

Harry Singh Dhillon

foi, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Dear Mr Harry Singh Dhillon

 

We always endeavour to respond to freedom of Information requests as soon
as possible and in your case we have managed to collect the required
information to respond before the 20 working day statutory timeframe.

 

Your questions and our answer are as follows:

 

1>  Please list all the exceptions to the usual practise of stopping a
person's 25% council tax discount when a second adult occupies the same
dwelling. Please also cite sources.

 

2>  What allowance does the council make when a second person starts
living in a dwelling, previously occupied by a sole person who enjoyed a
25% discount, and that second person, if charged council tax individually,
would receive a discount, wholly or partially, because they are in receipt
of a means-tested state provided benefit.

 

Council tax guidance that can be used for applying 25% discounts or types
of allowances the council would consider to either stop or disregard a
sole occupiers entitlement to 25% discount is published to our website,
this can be obtained accessing the link below.

 

[1]https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/who-has-t...

 

 

This concludes your information request.

 

If you are unhappy with the information we have provided in response to
your request please write to:

 

Electoral & Information Governance Services  Manager

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Town Hall, St Ives Road

Maidenhead

SL6 1RF

or send an e-mail to [2][RBWM request email]

 

Yours sincerely

 

Angelica Popa

Information Governance and Elections Officer

Law & Governance Service

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Town Hall, St. Ives Road

Maidenhead SL6 1RF

 

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

Follow us on Twitter: [4]@RBWM

Like us on [5]Facebook

 

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Mr Harry Singh Dhillon Esq.

Dear Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's handling of my FOI request 'Council Tax discounts'.

You failed to answer my (2).

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

HSD.

foi, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Dear Mr Harry Singh Dhillon

Thank you for your e-mail.

Your request has gone to review. Our process allows for 10 working days to undertake a review of how an information request has been dealt with. You will receive a response by 18th December 2018. .

Kind regards

Angelica Popa
Information Governance and Elections Officer
Information Governance Team
Law & Governance Service
Town Hall, St.Ives Road
Maidenhead SL6 1RF
01628 685806

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Mr Harry Singh Dhillon Esq.

Any chance of a reply before RBWM leaves the EU ?

Thank you.

HSD.

Mr Harry Singh Dhillon Esq.

Dear Royal Borough,

Hope you are keeping well and have had a good relaxing time, so please may I now have your long-awaited answer?

Thanks.

Harry

Suzanne Martin, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Dhillon,

 

I am writing to update you on your request for a review of the FOI
response you received in December 2018, as you were of the opinion that
your second question was not answered satisfactorily.

 

Original request – FOI73093

 

1> Please list all the exceptions to the usual practise of stopping a
person's 25% council tax discount when a second adult occupies the same
dwelling. Please also cite sources.

 

2>  What allowance does the council make when a second person starts
living in a dwelling, previously occupied by a sole person who enjoyed a
25% discount, and that second person, if charged council tax individually,
would receive a discount, wholly or partially, because they are in receipt
of a means-tested state provided benefit.

 

Response

 

The following, supplementary information has been provided in relation to
second adult rebate, which should answer your second question:

 

Council Tax payers may be able to get Second Adult Rebate if they don't
receive the main Council Tax Support. If they’re either:

 

o not entitled to Council Tax Support
o only entitled to benefit which would cover 25 per cent or less of
their Council Tax

 

Second Adult Rebate is based on the other person's circumstances. If any
of the second adults in your home is getting one of the following
benefits, you will get a 25 per cent rebate on your Council Tax:

 

o Income Support
o Pension Credit
o income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
o income-related Employment And Support Allowance (ESA)

 

If the second adult is “not on benefits” then the rebate based upon that
income is as detailed below;

 

Second
adult's Council
gross Tax
weekly rebate
income
Less 15 per
than cent
£201
Between
£201 7.5 per
and cent
£259.99
More No
than rebate
£260

 

If the supplementary information we have provided does not answer your
initial question, please expand further on your question and we will
ascertain whether we hold the information and then duly release it to you
if this is the case.

This concludes my review of FOI73093.

 

If you continue to be dissatisfied, you have the right to ask the
Information Commissioner’s office to review this response. Their contact
details are:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

[1]https://ico.org.uk/

 

Regards,

 

Suzanne Martin, AEA (Cert).

Electoral & Information Governance Services Manager

Law and Governance

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF.

  

[2][email address]

[3][email address]

 

Website: [4]www.rbwm.gov.uk 

Follow us on Twitter: @RBWM

Like us on Facebook

 

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