Verification of legislation re council tax 'arrears' and case history figures

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Dear Tewkesbury Borough Council,
1. What pieces of primary- and secondary-legislation grant Tewkesbury Borough Council the legal power to act as Courts' Clerk in effectively issuing summonses, seeking to place land-charges and instigating comital proceedings in relation to alleged 'arrears' in residential Council Tax payment?
2. What measures are Tewkesbury Borough Council obliged by Statute- and Common Law [especially in relation to Duty of Care] to adhere to before instigating Court proceedings for recovery of alleged non-payment of residential Council Tax and/or instigating comital proceedings or seeking land-charges for the same alleged non-payment? And what safeguarding measures do the Council actually take in this respect of each case where the Council subsequently instigates proceedings?
3. How many cases/proceedings - have been instigated by Tewkesbury Borough Council for the years 2017-8, 2018-9, 2019-20 and 2020-21 - in relation to
[a] the collection of residential council tax 'arrears';
[b] the seeking of land-charges for alleged non-payment of residential Council Tax;
and
[c] comital proceedings
have been heard in the relevant Courts, and for each of [a], [b] and [c] what numbers of cases have been 'won' by the Borough Council?
Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Hutchinson

Customer Services, Tewkesbury Borough Council

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[1]Freedom of Information Request
 
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Dear Tewkesbury Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Tewkesbury Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Verification of legislation re council tax 'arrears' and case history figures'.

26th April, 2022

Dear Sir/Madam.
FREEDOM ON INFORMATION: REQUEST FOR INTERNAL REVIEW
Case Ref: FOI/75689

Thank you for submitting your response on What Do They Know to my recent FOI request.
Because you have in the main avoided giving me full and honest answers to my questions, I should be most obliged if you would undertake an Internal Review of your responses, by reference to my comments below on those responses.

MY FIRST QUESTION WAS
What pieces of primary- and secondary-legislation grant Tewkesbury Borough Council the legal power to act as Courts' Clerk in effectively issuing summonses, seeking to place land-charges and instigating comital proceedings in relation to alleged 'arrears' in residential Council Tax payment?

YOUR ANSWER TO MY FIRST QUESTION WAS
The statutory provisions covering the enforcement of Council Tax are contained in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 contain the regulations regarding the issue of summonses for non payment of Council Tax and all enforcement remedies, including charging orders and committals
MY RESPONSE TO YOUR FIRST ANSWER IS
With respect, you have not answered my question. My question centres on the notion that Magistrates Courts – as distinct from Magistrates – are serving the purpose of ‘legitimising’/’legalising’ the enforcement procedures employed by Tewkesbury Borough Council [TBC] in relation to Council Tax recovery.
What I sought to establish was:
[A] the manner in which enforcement was being implemented by TBC, and
[B] the degree [if any] to which Magistrates acted independently of TBC in relation to Council Tax recovery procedures.
Could you therefore please kindly provide direct and honest answers both these last questions and , [A] and [B]?
[C] Equally, you have not acknowledged the underlying principle which is that in line with Ministry of Justice requirements, the Council Tax summonses are supposed to be issued by the Magistrates’ Court when TBC’s application for summonses are approved and endorsed by a Magistrate/ Legal Adviser and the Council informed of the outcome of their applications. Why not?
So – even if summonses are served on the Respondent by TBC –
[a] IF THE SUMMONSES ARE ISSUED BY THE MAGISTRATES COURT, WHY ARE THESE SUMMONSES NOT ON MAGISTRATES’ COURT OFFICIAL CROWN-HEADED PAPER, ENDORSED AND SEALED BY THE MAGISTRATE OR HIS/HER CLERK?
[b] HAS EACH AND EVERY SUMMONS SERVED BY TBC BEEN APPROVED AND ENDORSED BY THE MAGISTRATE OR HIS/HER LEGAL ADVISOR, MEANING THAT BY IMPLICATION, THE MAGISTRATE/ LEGAL ADVISOR HAS READ-THROUGH AND APPROVED THE SUMMONS?
[c] FOR THE YEARS IN QUESTION, HOW MANY OF THE COUNCIL-TAX SUMMONSES SAID TO HAVE BEEN SERVED BY TBC, WERE ACTUALLY HEARD IN FRONT OF A MAGISTRATE?
[d] ARE THESE LATTER PROCEEDINGS RECORDED AS AN OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT-SITTINGS, AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING?

MY SECOND QUESTION TO YOU WAS
What measures are Tewkesbury Borough Council [TBC] obliged by Statute- and Common Law [especially in relation to Duty of Care] to adhere to before instigating Court proceedings for recovery of alleged non-payment of residential Council Tax and/or instigating comital proceedings or seeking land-charges for the same alleged non-payment? And what safeguarding measures do the Council actually take in this respect of each case where the Council subsequently instigates proceedings?
YOUR RESPONSE TO MY SECOND QUESTION WAS
Ensure the Council Tax has been correctly set, the property is entered in the Council Tax valuation list, a demand notice and reminder notice as required by regulations above have been issued .
MY RESPONSE TO YOUR RESPONSE TO MY SECOND QUESTION IS

Your response does not indicate the stage [if any] in the proceedings whereby the Magistrate is able to independently intervene in relation to errors and omissions on the part of TBC. If summons that are being served on Respondents by TBC are supposed to have been read in detail and subsequently approved and endorsed by the Magistrate/ his or her Legal Advisor, then why are there instances whereby the Council have failed to have regard to critical matters when not only drafting erroneous summons, but serving them as well , using Council-headed stationary?
MY THIRD QUESTION TO YOU WAS
How many cases/proceedings - have been instigated by Tewkesbury Borough Council for the years 2017-8, 2018-9, 2019-20 and 2020-21 - in relation to
[a] the collection of residential council tax 'arrears';
[b] the seeking of land-charges for alleged non-payment of residential Council Tax;
and
[c] comital proceedings
have been heard in the relevant Courts, and for each of [a], [b] and [c] what numbers of cases have been 'won' by the Borough Council?
YOUR RESPONSE TO MY THIRD QUESTION WAS
2017/2018 2792 summons for non payment Nil charging orders Nil committal summons
2018/2019 3182 summons for non payment Nil charging orders Nil committal summons
2019/2020 3422 summons for non payment Nil charging orders 4 committal summons 2020/2021 Nil summons for non payment Nil charging orders Nil committal summons
No applications have been dismissed by the Magistrates in the above years.
MY RESPONSE TO YOUR THIRD-QUESTION RESPONSE IS
Your response does not make it clear whether, in relation to the total number of summonses for the four years in question, Tewkesbury Borough Council recovered in full the Council Tax arrears and costs. Can you please clarify?
Nor does it make it clear what the outcome was for the 4 committal proceedings in the financial year 2019/2020. In other words, what action was taken in relation to the 4 committal proceedings? Again, could you please clarify?
Finally, when you say that no applications have been dismissed by the Magistrates in the above years, is this because a Magistrate was not involved, having no material role in the process of ‘recovery of outstanding Council Tax’?

Your clarification of these matters would be most appreciated.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr Hutchinson

Customer Services, Tewkesbury Borough Council

Thank you for your email. 

Please note: This is an automated response to confirm receipt of your
email.  Please do not reply to this acknowledgement.

Customer Services

Tewkesbury Borough Council

[1]www.tewkesbury.gov.uk 

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Customer Services, Tewkesbury Borough Council

Mr Hutchinson,

Thank you for your email.

I have forwarded this to the relevant department, and you will receive a formal acknowledgement from them shortly.

Regards,

Sally Philpott
Customer Services Advisor
Tewkesbury Borough Council
tewkesbury.gov.uk
01684 272145

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[1]Freedom of Information Request
 
We are sorry that you are not happy with the information originally sent
to you in response to your Freedom of Information request,
reference FOI/75689.

Your request for an internal review has been received and it has been
allocated to an independent head of service to investigate further.

In line with legislation, we will investigate your review within 20
working days and respond to you by Thu, 26 May 2022

If you need to contact us again about this review, please quote your
reference number.

Kind regards,
Tewkesbury Borough Council.
 
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[1]Freedom of Information Request
 
Please find attached our response to your internal review request,

We hope we have provided the information you required. If you are not
satisfied with our internal review response, you have a further right to
appeal through the Information Commissioner:

• https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
• 0303 123 1113

Kind regards,
Tewkesbury Borough Council
 
For more of our online services, visit our [2]portal

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