Localising Support for Council Tax IRRV East Midlands Association Kettering 8 February 2013 Lee Anderson BSc(Hons) IRRV(Hons) VTS Operations Manager

A statement of intent Localised support Increased financial autonomy 10% subsidy reduction for 2013/14 Protection for pensioners Consideration for vulnerable groups Positive incentives to work Localised reduction scheme by 31 Jan 13 Abolition of CT Benefit

Local Government Finance Act 2012  Royal assent 31 October 2012  Sch. 4 – Amendments relating to CT reduction scheme  Insertion of Schedule 1A into LGFA 1992  Matters to be included in schemes  2 (6) A scheme must state the procedure by which a person can make an appeal under section 16 against any decision of the authority which affects – a) the person’s entitlement to a reduction under the scheme, or b) the amount of any reduction to which the person is entitled

The Valuation Tribunal Service  Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS)  Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE)  Jurisdiction;  Non domestic rating (175,870 receipts 11/12)  Council tax valuation (2,040)  Council tax liability (900)  Completion notices (310)  Penalty notices (10)  Drainage rate assessments (0)

S.16 Appeals: general LGFA 1992 (1) A person may appeal to the valuation tribunal if he is aggrieved by— (a)any decision of a billing authority that a dwelling is a chargeable dwelling, or that he is liable to pay council tax in respect of such a dwelling; or (b)any calculation made by such an authority of an amount which he is liable to pay to the authority in respect of council tax. (2) In subsection (1) reference to any calculation of an amount includes a reference to any estimate of the amount.

(3) Subsection (1) above shall not apply where the grounds on which the person concerned is aggrieved fall within such category of categories as may be prescribed. (4)No appeal may be made under subsection (1) unless— (a)the aggrieved person serves a written notice under this subsection; and (b)one of the conditions mentioned in subsection (7) below is fulfilled. (5) A notice under subsection (4) must be served on the billing authority concerned. (6)A notice under subsection (4) must state the matter by which and the grounds on which the person is aggrieved.

(7) The conditions are that— (a)the aggrieved person is notified in writing, by the authority on which he served the notice, that the authority believes the grievance is not well founded, but the person is still aggrieved; (b)the aggrieved person is notified in writing, by the authority on which he served the notice, that steps have been taken to deal with the grievance, but the person is still aggrieved; (c)the period of two months, beginning with the date of service of the aggrieved person’s notice, has ended without his being notified under paragraph (a) or (b) above.

(8) Where a notice under subsection (4) is served on an authority, the authority shall— (a) consider the matter to which the notice relates; (b) include in any notification under subsection (7)(a) the reasons for the belief concerned; (c) include in any notification under subsection (7)(b) a statement of the steps taken.

CTR Appeal Process.doc

VTS Issues  Volumes – workload projections  Local scheme / regional variation  Resources  Timing of appeals  HB v CTS inc. escalation to HC  Impact on existing work streams

Judicial workload LGFA 2012 Insertion of A18A Schedule 11 LGFA 1988  Power for an FTT member to act as a member of the Valuation Tribunal for England  CTR appeals only  FTT member has particular expertise  Use of FTT member + VTE senior member  Use only existing members of the VTE  Use a mixture of these approaches

Moving Forward  BA formal contact information  Facebook - CTS Tribunal  Local / regional Liaison 

Your contact information ( on bills, general guidance, website etc )  No mention of the VT at this stage  Queries directed to you  [ CT banding queries to the VOA not us ]

Suggested wording - award notices  If you do not understand this notice, please call us on …….  If you disagree with this notice, you can ask us to look at your council tax support again. Please [write to….?]  When we have looked at it again we will send you our decision. If you still disagree, you have a right to make an appeal to an independent body. We will give you more information about this with our decision.

Suggested wording – decision/determination notice  If you disagree with our decision about your council tax support, you have the right to appeal to an independent body, the Valuation Tribunal.  You will need to fill in an appeal form. You can do this online at  You must send your appeal to the Tribunal within two months of the date of this notice