FI16301

Request

I ask that you please provide by email copies of the standard template letters or digital communications your council issues to residents in relation to Council Tax arrears, specifically:

1. The initial reminder notice issued as part of the arrears or recovery process, as per requirements under Regulation 23 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

2. The second reminder notice, issued in the event that a resident has rectified one missed instalment but gone on to miss a second instalment over a given annual period.

3. The final notice issued once the resident has lost the right to pay by instalments and prior to any further enforcement action, as per requirements under Regulation 33 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

4. Any additional reminder notices or discretionary communications issued to residents with Council Tax arrears, including between the first reminder notice and final notice being issued (prior to a court summons).

For each, please include:

• The full wording of the standard template
• Any headers, footers, or formatting used in the letter or digital communications
• The typical method of delivery (e.g. post, email)
• Any differences in the templates based on resident circumstances (e.g. prior arrears, benefits status, vulnerability)

In addition, please can you inform us of:

5. The total number of households against which you started imprisonment committal proceedings relating to unpaid council tax, for each year from 2020

Response

The Council believes it is appropriate to refuse to disclose items 1 to 4 as we believe such disclosure is likely to prejudice crime prevention which engages the exemption at Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Disclosure under the FOIA is deemed to be to the world at large, not solely the requestor, and we are concerned that such disclosure could place our templates in the hands of people who would misuse them.  We are not suggesting that you would misuse them, but we have to consider the effect of such wide disclosure. 

Our concern is that disclosure of our templates could lead to people sending fraudulently created documents, which would be more convincing through the use of our documents, to the taxpayers of our District to extort money from them.  This could be accomplished through the use of incorrect bank details, and possibly include incentives to "pay a discounted rate now" or "pay now to avoid further recovery action". 

We are also mindful that we have seen fake Council Tax documents submitted to the Immigration Service, and that making our core documentation more readily available is likely to make their role harder and increase the risk of crime under the Immigration Acts. 

Consequently, we find that the exemption at Section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA is engaged.  This is not an absolute exemption and requires a public interest test. 

In this case, bearing in the Council's duty under Section 17 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which is to do all we reasonably can to prevent crime, I consider there is more public interest in protecting our taxpayers, especially the most vulnerable, from the increased risk we believe disclosure will cause, than providing transparency in respect to this documentation. 

This request, in relation to points 1 to 4, is therefore refused. 

In respect of point 5, regarding the total number of households against which we started imprisonment committal proceedings relating to unpaid council tax, for each year from 2020, the answer is zero, for all years.