Council Tax Exemption Policy for Care Leavers

The Children's Society made this Freedom of Information request to Horsham District Council as part of a batch sent to 318 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

The Children's Society
Delivered

Dear Horsham District Council,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am resending an earlier submitted FOI with the understanding that a named contact may be required, so would like to provide Talulah Kingston as this contact.

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding your council's policy on council tax exemption for care leavers.

I would be grateful if you could provide answers to the following questions:

1. Do you have a council tax exemption policy in place for care leavers? [Please respond with either "Yes" or "No."]

If you answered "Yes" to Question 1, please provide the following information:

2. Is this exemption provided for care leavers up to the age of 25? [Please respond with either "Yes" or "No."]

3. Is your exemption policy inclusive of care leavers who move into your local authority, but the local authority which holds corporate parenting responsibility for them is elsewhere? [Please respond with either "Yes" or "No."]

4. Is your exemption policy inclusive of care leavers who you are the corporate parent for but live outside your local authority? [Please respond with either "Yes" or "No."]

5. Is this exemption policy included in your local offer for care leavers document? If so, please provide a link to the relevant document.

6. Is this exemption advertised on your website? [Please respond with either "Yes" or "No."]

7. Is there any further information you wish to add regarding your council's council tax exemption policy for care leavers?

We kindly request that you provide the requested information within the statutory 20 working days as prescribed by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If for any reason you are unable to provide the information requested, please specify the grounds for refusal as stipulated by the Act.

We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours faithfully,

Talulah Kingston on behalf of The Children's Society

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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.

GDPR and Data Protection Act - Subject Access Requests will be answered
within 1 month, unless the request is a complex one requiring the Council
to extend the deadline for up to 3 months. Other requests under the DPA
will be answered within 10 working days.

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 Talulah  Kingston

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Response

 

Further to our acknowledgement we can now respond to your request for
information dated 13/09/2023 asking about Council tax exemption policy for
care leavers.

 

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 13/09/2023 you asked if Horsham District Council has a
exemption for care leavers.  I can confirm that we do not have an
exemption for care leavers.

 

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
Services team.

 

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have the right to
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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