Request:
I am writing to request the following information relating to the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 (to date):
1. The number of sitting councillors in your authority who were sent reminders for unpaid council tax.
2. The names of those councillors and the amount of money they were asked to pay.
3. The dates on which they were sent the reminders.
4. The number of councillors who received a court summons for non-payment of council tax.
5. The names of those councillors and the amount of money they were asked to pay.
6. The dates on which they were sent the court summons.
Response:
|
Q1. |
Q2. |
Q3. |
Q4 |
Q5. |
Q6. |
| 2024/2025 | |||||
| 2 |
Councillors A and B £498.00 (final notice) |
06/01/25 | |||
|
Councillors A and B £249.00 |
20/11/24 | ||||
| Councillors A and B £499.30 | 18/09/24 | ||||
| Councillor A £260.00 | 13/06/24 | ||||
| 2023/2024 | |||||
| 2 | Councillor A £600.39 | 20/03/24 | 2 | Councillor A £600.39 | 02/05/24 |
| Councillor A £132.00 | 15/06/23 | Councillor A £1452.00 | 06/07/23 | ||
| Councillor A £132.25 | 04/05/23 | ||||
| Councillor C £138.00 (final notice) | 20/09/23 | Councillor C £91.10 | 09/11/23 | ||
| Councillor C £23.00 | 30/08/23 | ||||
| Councillor C £23.00 | 26/07/23 | ||||
| 2022/2023 | |||||
| 3 | Councillor A £299.00 | 22/03/23 | 2 | Councillor A £598.00 | 04/05/23 |
| Councillor D £130.24 | 19/04/22 | Councillor D £1336.24 | 26/05/22 | ||
| Councillor E £18.61 | 19/04/22 |
The Authority has made the decision to withhold information in relation the names of the elected members (referred to as Councillors A to E) under section 40(2) (personal data) of the FoIA.
In determining the Authority’s response, it has taken due consideration of decisions of the Information Commissioner and the Upper Tribunal. In particular Haslam v IC and Bolton Council.
The Authority can confirm that before the Council meeting in February each year, the necessary checks were undertaken to ensure that any Councillors with Council Tax arrears of 2 months or greater did not attend the Council meeting without making the necessary declarations and that no Councillors with this level of arrears participated in the vote on the Authority’s Budget for the following financial year.
Further, it can be confirmed that where summons have been issued, the amounts have either been settled in full or a payment plan has been put in place.
Request for Internal Review:
I note from your reply that you have withheld the names of the councillors sent either reminders or court summons for unpaid council tax, citing Section 40(2) of the FOIA.
I submit that this information should be released as a matter of public interest and refer you to the decisions I have attached to this email by the Information Commissioner (of 8 April 2024 relating to Liverpool City Council) and the Upper Tribunal (DH v Information Commissioner and Bolton Council). These cases clearly outline that such information is not exempt from disclosure, as there is a legitimate interest in the public being made aware of it, and that there must be 'exceptional' personal circumstances to justify the withholding of their names.
Response:
The Authority has considered several ICO decision notices relevant to this request (Bolton Council decision notice, Redcar and Cleveland decision notice, Liverpool City Council decision notice), the Authority have been provided with individual accounts from the Councillors for review, which detailed any exceptional personal circumstances, which may have a disproportionate adverse effect on the councillors’ rights and freedoms, which the Authority must consider.
Having considered the circumstances, the Authority is of the view that the names of the councillors are not disclosed.
If you remain dissatisfied with the way the Authority has dealt with your request, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the details below:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
www.ico.org.uk/foicomplaints
Please find attached the ICO Decision Notice, along with the disclosure of information that had previously been withheld.