Dear Natalie Bloomer

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was received by
Vale of White Horse District Council on 11 October 2023.

 

Please accept this email as confirmation that your request has been
received and is being considered by the relevant department and that a
response will be sent to you within 20 working days, subject to the
information not being exempt and subject to any need for clarification.

 

The deadline for this will be 8 November 2023

 

The reference number for this request is Vale 23/623

 

I trust that this email is sufficient to assure you that your request is
being dealt with. However, should you have any queries in the meantime,
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at
[1][Vale of White Horse District Council request email]

 

Kind regards

 

Information Governance Team

 

Legal & Democratic Services

Vale of White Horse District Council

[2]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

 

We’ve moved – our address is now:

Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE

Please update your records.

To find out more about how the council holds, uses and stores your
personal data, please click on the link below

[3]Vale of White Horse District Council

 

show quoted sections

Dear Ms Bloomer

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information requests, which were received by
both South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District
Council, logged under FOI  23/742 South and 23/623 Vale. Please note that
the two councils operate as a shared service hence this joint response.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 2000 Act) you
are entitled to be informed in writing whether the council holds the
information specified in your request and, if that is the case, to have
that information communicated to you unless any of the statutory
exemptions apply. I have considered your request and can confirm we do
hold some of the information asked and I do not believe any of the
statutory exemptions apply to your request.

 

Please find below the information you requested (where available):

 

1. In relation to your collection of council tax for the 2022/2023 council
tax period please provide the total number of referrals/debts passed to
enforcement agents.

 

South – 3,690

Vale – 4,484

 

2. Please confirm the name of the enforcement company used by the council
for the recovery of council tax debt.

 

Equita and Ross and Roberts

 

3. Please confirm if accounts which are part of the council tax
reduction/support scheme are passed to enforcement companies and if so how
many such cases were passed on for the 2022/23 council tax period.

 

Yes - but data not held as bulk lists are issued to Enforcement Agencies
that do not provide a breakdown of if receiving CTRS or not.

 

4. Please confirm if accounts of people on health/disability related
benefits such as Disability Living Allowance, Employment Support Allowance
and Personal Independence Payment are passed to enforcement companies and
if so how many such cases were passed on for the 2022/23 council tax
period.

 

No data held – council tax accounts do not hold records of disability
benefits.

 

5. Please confirm if an assessment of vulnerability is done prior to a
debt being passed to an enforcement company and if so provide a brief
description of what the assessment involves. Please also confirm how many
cases of people assessed as being vulnerable or potentially vulnerable
were passed on to an enforcement company for the 2022/23 council tax
period.

 

All cases are checked prior to being sent to Enforcement Agents by
checking the vulnerability indicator on the account, reading the notes on
account taking additional care to read the severe diary notes which should
highlight any vulnerabilities if we are aware of them as well as looking
for recent work items and contact/post within the workflow. Information
not held on number of cases sent.

 

6. Please confirm what protocols are in place between the local authority
and enforcement companies regarding the approach that should be taken when
someone is assessed as being vulnerable as per the assessment referred to
in Q5. Please also confirm the kinds of cases which should be raised with,
or referred back to, local authorities for further consideration when
encountered.

 

Service level agreement in place with the Enforcement Agents which covers
vulnerability, and this must be considered and adhered to by any
Enforcement Agent when acting on the council's behalf.

 

7. Please confirm A) how many requests the council received to bring a
council tax debt back from an enforcement agent due to vulnerability
reasons during the 2022/23 period and B) How many times the council agreed
to bring an account back due to vulnerability reasons during the 2022/23
period.

 

Data not held, case by case basis

 

Please treat this as the councils’ formal response under the 2000 Act.  If
you are not satisfied with the decision I have made in response to your
request, you can make a request for an internal review by emailing
[1][email address] and [2][Vale of White Horse District Council request email]  within 40 working
days from the date we issued our response. If you remain dissatisfied
after following that procedure, you have the right under Section 50 of the
2000 Act to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel the
council has not dealt with your request properly. You can contact the
Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
(telephone number: 0303 123 1113). You can also find further information
at [3]www.ico.org.uk.

 

Kind Regards

 

Vicky Johnson
Revenues & Benefits Client Officer

 

Finance

Vale of White Horse District Council & South Oxfordshire District Council

Direct Line: 01235 422481 (Abingdon - VWHDC) Text phone users add 18001
before you dial

[mobile number]

Email : [4][email address]

 

Visit us at:

[5]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

[6]www.southoxon.gov.uk

 

To find out more about how the council holds, uses and stores your
personal data, please click on the appropriate council’s link:   

 

[7]South Oxfordshire District Council  [8]Vale of White Horse District
Council

 

We’ve moved – our address is now:

Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE

Please update your records.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Vale of White Horse District Council request email]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/
6. http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/
7. https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfor...
8. https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-...