CORPORATE SERVICES
Head of Service - Simonne De Vall
 
Our Ref: 000003260
Please ask for: FOI Coordinator
Direct Dial:  (01727) 819209
e-mail address: [St Albans District Council request email]
Date:  15th April 2019

 
 
Dear Ms Morris
 
Freedom of Information Request - acknowledgement
Reference:000003260
 
I write with regard to your request for information to St Albans City &
District Council. Your email was received by the Council on 12th April
2019.
 
Under Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are
required to respond no later than 20 working days after the date we
receive your request.
This means that you should have a response by the 15th May 2019 . 
 
However, if we feel that we require further information to fulfill your
request we will write to inform you within the twenty day period [section
1(3)].
 
If the Council considers that we require further time to respond then we
will write to you informing you of the estimated date of response [section
10 (3)].
 
If we consider that complying with the request will exceed the cost limit
then we will write to tell you within 20 working days.
 
Kind Regards
 
 
 
FOI Coordinator
Corporate Services
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Privacy Notice for Freedom of Information (FOI)/Environmental Information
(EIR) Processes
This privacy notice explains how St Albans City & District Council (the
Data Controller) will use any personal information we collect about you
when you use our services.
What information do we collect about you?
The information that the Council will collect varies depending on how you
use the Council’s Services. We are using the information provided in this
case because we have a legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)).  This means we
collect your personal information from you so that we can carry out a
function we are required by law to carry out i.e. responding to FOI and
EIR requests.  You will usually provide the following information: your
contact information and details of your request [Art. 6(1)(a)].   We are
collecting this limited personal information so we can respond to your
request.                                     
How will we use the information about you?
If you contact us for information, we will use your personal information
to allow us to send you the response. We may share your personal
information with other departments in order to provide you with the
response. 
We will not share the personal information we hold with any external
organisations.  We may be required to share your personal information with
the Police, Internal Audit, or similar agency, or another Council for the
purposes of preventing and detecting fraud.
We will ensure that all personal information is kept securely.
How long will you keep this information?
We will destroy this personal information 7 years after we have closed the
case.
Individuals’ Rights
You have a right to request a copy of the personal information that we
hold about you.  If you would like a copy of some or all of your
information, please contact [1][St Albans District Council request email] and ask for a subject
access request.
If you consider we hold inaccurate personal information about you, you can
contact us to ask for this information to be corrected.  We will consider
your request and respond within one month.  Please contact
[2][email address].
You can find out more about your rights on our website:  
[3]http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/council-and-d...
Changes to our Data Protection Policy
We have a Data Protection Policy in place and this can be found here:
[4]http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/SADC%2...
We review this policy annually.  An updated General Data Protection
Regulation version will appear here before 25^th May 2018.
Data Protection Officer
Our Data Protection Officer for the purposes of Articles 37 to 39 of the
General Data Protection Regulation is Charles Turner, Solicitor to the
Council.  He can be contacted by emailing [5][email address] or
calling 01727 819209 for our Complaints Team.
 
 
How to contact us
Please contact us if you have any questions about our Data Protection
Policy, or concerns about how we handle your information: by emailing
[6][St Albans District Council request email] or write to us at: FOI Team, St Albans City &
District Council, St Peter’s Street, St Albans, AL1 3JE. 
Complaints
You have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you are
unhappy with how we process your personal information.  You can do so
through their website:  [7]https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by emailing:
[8][email address] or calling their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
 
 
 
 
 
 
GDPR Privacy Notice – FOI and EIR Art 6(1)(c) Legal Obligation 02.5.18
 
 
 
Your vote matters; don’t lose it.
 
To vote in the local council elections on Thursday 2 May
2019 you must be registered to vote.
 
Register online at: [9]www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. The
deadline to register to vote is Friday 12 April 2019.
 
Registration forms are also available. Email
[email address] or call 01727 819294.
 
For further information go to: [10]www.yourvotematters.co.uk
and [11]www.stalbans.gov.uk/elections.
 
Last date for postal vote applications is 5pm Monday 15
April.
Last date for proxy applications is 5pm Wednesday 24 April.
 
****Disclaimer****
The information in this message should be regarded as Private and is
intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated.
If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and the
sender
notified.
The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily
those of St Albans City and District Council unless explicitly stated.
Please be aware that emails sent to or received from St Albans City and
District Council may be intercepted and read by the council.
Interception will only occur to ensure compliance with council policies or
procedures or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for
the
purposes of essential maintenance or support of the email system.
Please note that the Council does not accept service by e-mail
The personal information you provide will be held in accordance with the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Council’s Data
Protection Policy.  You can find more information about how we will handle
your personal information in our privacy notice: [12]Privacy Notice

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[St Albans District Council request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/council-and-d...
4. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/SADC%2...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[St Albans District Council request email]
7. https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
8. mailto:[email address]
9. http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
10. http://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/
11. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/elections
12. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/Privac...

CORPORATE SERVICES
Head of Service - Simonne De Vall
 
Our Ref: 000003260
Please ask for: FOI Coordinator
Direct Dial:  (01727) 819209
e-mail address: [St Albans District Council request email]
Date:  8th August 2019

 
 
Dear Ms Morris
 
Freedom of Information Request Ref. No. 000003260
 
I write with regard to your request for information sent by email to St
Albans City & District Council.  Your email was received by the Council on
15th April 2019.  Please accept our sincere apologies for the lateness of
our response.
 
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are required to confirm what
information we hold, and if we do hold the information, disclose the
information, subject to exemptions or other provisions applying.
 
You requested:
 
1. How many unpaid council tax reminders were sent to councillors elected
in your authority between 2015/16 and 2017/18? Please break down by
financial year?

2. How many councillors were summonsed to court or given summary warrants
in the same period? Again, please break down by financial year.

3a. How many reminders were issued to the councillors named? Please break
down by year.

3b. For each instance, please provide the name of each councillor, the
party they represent or represented at the time and the amount of council
tax owed according to sums requested in the letter. Please also provide
the amount of council tax that remains outstanding.

3c. Please also state for each councillor, whether they were barred from
voting on the council's budget as a result of their council tax arrears
and whether any summons received resulted in a court hearing going ahead.
 
 
 
 
Our response:
 
We consider that an exemption applies to the information you have
requested and we have explained this below:
We hold no information relating to councillors in response to questions 1
to 3c for the financial year 2015/2016.
For the financial year 2017/2018, we hold as follows:
Q1 None
Q2 None
Q3a We sent two reminders to one councillor in this financial year.
Q3b We confirm that following the reminders the Council Tax was paid and
therefore no sums remain outstanding. We do not intend to release the name
or political party of
the individual councillor and we have set out the reasons below.
Q3c No summonses were issued and no councillors were barred from voting.
We consider the name of the councillor is that individual’s personal data.
An individual’s name and whether or not they have paid council tax on time
is that individual’s personal data. You refer to a High Court decision but
provide no citation for that case. We have considered the leading decision
of the Upper Tier Tribunal case Haslam v Information Commissioner and
Bolton Council [2016] UKUT 0139 (AAC). I note that the Upper Tier Tribunal
considered the non-payment of council tax to be more than a private
matter, stating at paragraph 40: A councillor is a public official with
public responsibilities to which non-payment of council tax is directly
and significantly relevant.
However, this decision relates to the issue of a summons for non-payment,
rather than a reminder, so the impact and accountability issues are not
the same. Given that the council tax debt was cleared on issue of the
reminders we do not consider the weight in favour of release of the
councillor’s name is as great in this case because of the rectification of
the error by the councillor before any further action.
We therefore apply the exemption in section 40 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 to withhold the councillor’s name.
 
If you are dissatisfied with this response the Commissioner’s Office
recommends that you first refer the matter to the Council. You can do this
by writing to [1][St Albans District Council request email] asking for an internal review of my
decision. If you wish the Council to undertake an internal review, then
you must write to the Council within 40 working days of the date of this
letter. The Council will not consider any requests received after this
date unless there are exceptional circumstances for the delay. 
 
You have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office at the
following address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
You must do this no later than two months after the Local Authority’s last
response to you.
 
 
Kind Regards
 
 
FOI Coordinator
Corporate Services
 
 
 
 
Do you have a ‘MyStAlbans’ District Account?
To register, just go to [2]www.stalbans.gov.uk/mystalbansdistrictaccount
to access a personalised online account that gives you instant access to
lots of useful council services, wherever you live in the District.
[3][IMG]
 
****Disclaimer****
The information in this message should be regarded as Private and is
intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated.
If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and the
sender
notified.
The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily
those of St Albans City and District Council unless explicitly stated.
Please be aware that emails sent to or received from St Albans City and
District Council may be intercepted and read by the council.
Interception will only occur to ensure compliance with council policies or
procedures or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for
the
purposes of essential maintenance or support of the email system.
Please note that the Council does not accept service by e-mail
The personal information you provide will be held in accordance with the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Council’s Data
Protection Policy.  You can find more information about how we will handle
your personal information in our privacy notice: [4]Privacy Notice

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[St Albans District Council request email]
2. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/mystalbansdis...
3. https://stalbans.force.com/mysadc/s/
4. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/Privac...