Council Tax Summons & Liability Order Fees Review - June 2016
Dear Powys County Council,
It was proposed to adjust the charge structure in the issuing of a Council Tax Summons and attending Court to secure a Liability Order from £40 and £30 respectively to £50 and £20 (see report).
Public reports pack 05th-Jul-2016 Portfolio Holder for Finance.pdf
http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g...
The front loading of costs was justified by the claim that 'recent redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the process of council tax billing and recovery means there is more emphasis and cost at the front end of the process'.
Will the council please state whether,
(i) the proposal was accepted and,
(ii) disclose the information held which relates to the 'recent redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the process of council tax billing and recovery'
Also, I would like disclosing the correspondence mentioned in paragraph 2.5, i.e the council's letter to the Magistrates Court outlining the proposed changes in charges and the 14th June 2016 confirmation from the Court that the proposed charges were reasonable considering the costs incurred during the enforcement procedures.
Yours faithfully,
Kieran Brydon
Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys LD1 5LG
If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
Tel / Ffôn: 01597 82 7543
Fax / Ffacs: 01597 82 6215
Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]
Our ref / Ein cyf: F2017-1055
Date / Dyddiad: 13/10/17
Request Accepted
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
Reference No: F2017/1055
Dear Mr Brydon
Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on ,
in which you requested details of the following:
Council Tax Summons
The above is a summary of your request. The full details of the
information sought is provided to the officer to whom the request is
tasked.
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve
this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
The due date for responding to this request for information is 09/11/2017.
Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information
Compliance Team on 01597 827543.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Carl Bryden
Information Compliance Officer
Carl Bryden
Information Compliance Assistant
Cyngor Sir Powys Powys County Council
Ext. 7543
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys LD1 5LG
If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
Tel / Ffôn: 01597 82 7543
Fax / Ffacs: 01597 82 6215
Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]
Our ref / Ein cyf: 1055
Date / Dyddiad: 26/10/17
Reference No: F2017-1055
Dear Mr Brydon
Thank you for your request for information dated 12/10/17 concerning
Council Tax Summons’
This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:
The Request:
It was proposed to adjust the charge structure in the issuing of a Council
Tax Summons and attending Court to secure a Liability Order from £40 and
£30 respectively to £50 and £20 (see report).
Public reports pack 05th-Jul-2016 Portfolio Holder for Finance.pdf
[2]http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g...
The front loading of costs was justified by the claim that 'recent
redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the
process of council tax billing and recovery means there is more emphasis
and cost at the front end of the process'.
Will the council please state whether,
(i) the proposal was accepted and,
(ii) disclose the information held which relates to the 'recent redesign
changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the process of
council tax billing and recovery'
Also, I would like disclosing the correspondence mentioned in paragraph
2.5, i.e the council's letter to the Magistrates Court outlining the
proposed changes in charges and the 14th June 2016 confirmation from the
Court that the proposed charges were reasonable considering the costs
incurred during the enforcement procedures.
The Response:
(i) the proposal was accepted and,
yes
(ii) disclose the information held which relates to the 'recent
redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the
process of council tax billing and recovery'
See attached Billing, Collection & Recovery Framework document
· I would like disclosing the correspondence mentioned in
paragraph 2.5, i.e the council's letter to the Magistrates Court outlining
the proposed changes in charges
See attached “letter to Magistrates Court” letter dated 7^th June 2016.
· the 14th June 2016 confirmation from the Court that the
proposed charges were reasonable considering the costs incurred during the
enforcement procedures.
See attached “Magistrates Court 14-06-16”.
Where data has been withheld it is in line with the following exemption:
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Powys County
Council, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
(a) states that fact;
(b) specifies the exemption in question and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.
Part of the information you requested is being withheld because it falls
under the exemption in section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000.
Section 40 (2) applies to third party personal data. This would not be
released under the Freedom of Information Act unless there is strong
public interest to do so. This is because any release would breach the
Data Protection Principles as contained within the Data Protection Act
1998.
Information released under the Freedom of Information is considered to be
released into the public domain, without caveat, not just to the
individual requesting the information. We believe that information
relating to identifiable individuals constitutes their personal data and
if released would contravene the first data protection principle.
The first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998 states in part that:
“Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular,
shall not be processed unless at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2
is met, and in the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the
conditions in Schedule 3 is also met. We are obliged to comply with the
first principle where we are required to ‘handle people’s personal data
only in ways they would reasonable expect’. It is reasonable in these
circumstances that the identity of the individuals and the information
relating to them would not be disclosed in response to a Freedom of
Information request.
Therefore, based on the considerations above the exemption afforded under
Section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is engaged and in
accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this
letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this element of your request.
We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed
immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this
topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Information Compliance Team
The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the
person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the
documents in a way that would infringe copyright.
You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public
will require the permission of the copyright owner.
The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council.
The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated in the information itself.
For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of
Public Sector Information(OPSI) website.
[3]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
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your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Management. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our
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the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office
2nd floor
Churchill House
Churchill way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Tel: 029 2067 8400
Email: [4][email address]
[5]www.ico.org.uk
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
2. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g...
3. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.ico.org.uk/
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
Thank you for replying to my FOI request. I would like the below part clarifying of your response please, in respect of the specific changes outlined in the document that would impact on the expenditure attributable to the court complaint being weighted more in favour of the summons issue.
"(ii) disclose the information held which relates to the 'recent redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the process of council tax billing and recovery'
See attached Billing, Collection & Recovery Framework document"
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Mr Brydon,
We have forwarded your further query to the relevant service area who have responded as below:
"Redesign works has resulted in additional resource being applied to the recovery process (up to and including summons being issued) at an earlier stage."
I hope that this answers your further query.
Carl Bryden
Information Compliance officer.
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
The response from the relevant service area does not give any additional information than what I quoted in my request.
Compare
'recent redesign changes to the way the Income and Recovery staff deal with the process of council tax billing and recovery means there is more emphasis and cost at the front end of the process'.
with
"Redesign works has resulted in additional resource being applied to the recovery process (up to and including summons being issued) at an earlier stage."
Is there anything to support the statement?
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Mr Brydon,
We acknowledge receipt of your complaint regarding the Information relating to " Council Tax Summons". We regret that you have expressed dissatisfaction in the service provided by Powys County Council in respect of your recent request for information. Your complaint will be referred to the most appropriate individual for review, in accordance with the Council’s Freedom of Information Complaints Policy.
Powys County Council attempts to respond to requests for a review within 20 working days, however, this is not possible in all cases. We will endeavour to respond by 03/01/2017.
Yours Sincerely
Information Compliance Team
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
Thank you. I look forward to the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
The Information Commissioner expects internal reviews to be dealt with normally within 20 working days and no more than 40 days. Can I have this dealt with as soon as possible please.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Mr Brydon
Your request for an Internal Review is currently with the legal team and receiving attention. We will chase them today.
We apologise for the delay in responding to your request and acknowledge that we have failed in our expectations to meet timescales.
Regards
Information Compliance Team.
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
I appreciate that thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
Can I have an update please.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Dear Mr Brydon
Your request for an Internal Review is still with the legal team and receiving attention. We will chase them once again today. They were reminded last week of the need to undertake this work.
We apologise for the delay in responding to your request and acknowledge that we have failed in our expectations to meet timescales.
Regards
Information Compliance Team.
Dear Mr Brydon
Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review.
We apologise for the delay in responding to this request.
Information Compliance Team
Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),
Thank you for your 23 March 2018 outcome to the review.
The response raises an interesting question which I hope can be answered.
The court application costs have increased in respect of the summons stage because staff have been brought to the front of the process to deal with the customers (more work is carried out at that stage). The objective is said to be to engage potential recipients of court summonses and liability orders for the purposes of preventing them incurring the costs.
How can that cost which is incurred by the council in respect of engaging customers so they can avoid court recovery, be included in the summons costs, when it is those customers who have driven the activity who are not summonsed and pay the costs?
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Brydon
Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys LD1 5LG
If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
Tel / Ffôn: 01597 82 7543
Fax / Ffacs: 01597 82 6215
Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]
Our ref / Ein cyf: F2018-0375
Date / Dyddiad: 16/04/18
Request Accepted
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
Reference No: F2018/0375
Dear Mr Brydon
Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on
13/04/18, in which you requested details of the following:
Cost of Court Summons(2)
The above is a summary of your request. The full details of the
information sought is provided to the officer to whom the request is
tasked.
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve
this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
The due date for responding to this request for information is 14/05/18.
Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information
Compliance Team on 01597 827543.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Information Compliance Team
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys LD1 5LG
If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
Tel / Ffôn: 01597 82 7543
Fax / Ffacs: 01597 82 6215
Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]
Our ref / Ein cyf: F2018-0375
Date / Dyddiad: 02/01/2018
Reference No: F2018-0375
Dear Mr Brydon
Thank you for your request for information dated 13/04/2018 concerning
Cost of Court Summons
This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:
The Request:
The court application costs have increased in respect of the summons stage
because staff have been brought to the front of the process to deal with
the customers (more work is carried out at that stage). The objective is
said to be to engage potential recipients of court summonses and liability
orders for the purposes of preventing them incurring the costs.
How can that cost which is incurred by the council in respect of engaging
customers so they can avoid court recovery, be included in the summons
costs, when it is those customers who have driven the activity who are not
summonsed and pay the costs?
The Response:
We have nothing further to provide, as all recorded documents have been
supplied, being the procedures and break-down as to how split in costs
were derived and subsequently approved by the Magistrates Court, before
new charges took effect.
By way of further explanation the engagement with customers in arrears
with council tax will take place at reminder, final or summons stage, and
investing resource at this stage, will assist in some council tax payers
in NOT progressing to Court where a liability order is secured against
them. To support this a comparison of the number of Liability Orders
secured in 2015-16, (costs were £40 & £30) to 2017-18 ( costs £50 & £20)
shows a significant reduction in number of Liability Orders secured.
2015-16, 3,217
2017-18, 2,592
some 625 LESS council tax payers or 20%
We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed
immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this
topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.
Yours sincerely,
Information Compliance Team
The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the
person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the
documents in a way that would infringe copyright.
You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public
will require the permission of the copyright owner.
The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council.
The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated in the information itself.
For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of
Public Sector Information(OPSI) website.
[2]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Compliance. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our
website.
If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to
the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office
2nd floor
Churchill House
Churchill way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Tel: 029 2067 8400
Email: [3][email address]
[4]www.ico.org.uk
[5]Footer_banner[1]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
2. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
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Kieran Brydon left an annotation ()
Quoted from attachment (Powys County Council 23 March 2018)
"In discussions with the service area responsible I can advise that the calculation of how the court costs are made up is done annually and agreed by the Magistrates court. This information has already been disclosed to you. The cost reflects any operational changes that would have been made in the redesign process. In this instance this has meant bringing staff to the front of the process to deal with the customers directly and where resources are being directed towards front facing tasks, if council tax payer is in debt we try to engage earlier to prevent the liability order and court summons. There is no recorded information that explains this, it is simply a different way of working."