Glasgow Council Tax invoices and breakdown of spend: FOI release

Information requested

• “I would like Invoices for council tax in Glasgow from 1992 until present”
• “I would like to see the individual breakdown of were the monies go”
• “I would like to see the court liability order councils use”
• “I would like to know what law is broken if council tax is not paid”

Response

The aim of the Scottish Government is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information under the terms of your request because the Scottish Government does not hold that information.

Invoices for council tax in Glasgow from 1992 until present

Council Tax is a local tax, and responsibility for collection rests with individual local authorities. Revenue from Council Tax is retained in full by councils and is not part of the Scottish Government’s funding allocation to local government. The Scottish Government does not hold invoices for Council Tax in Glasgow. Council Tax in Glasgow will be collected by Glasgow City Council.

Each local authority’s Council Tax income will vary, depending on the tax rate set, the number of properties in total and the number of properties in each valuation band. Information on the Council Tax collected by Local Government, including a breakdown by Local Authority can be found at the following link, https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-financestatistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics.

I would like to see the individual breakdown of were the monies go

Local authorities deliver a wide range of services which are partly funded by local taxation. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

As such, the Scottish Government cannot provide you with the information under the terms of your request because the Scottish Government does not hold that information. However, the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics (SLGFS) is an annual publication that provides a comprehensive
overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities based on authorities’ audited accounts. This publication covers: local authority income; revenue expenditure and income, capital expenditure and income; reserves; debt; local taxation; and local authority pensions. It is available at the following link,
https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-financestatistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics.

I would like to see the court liability order councils use

As previously stated, Council Tax is a local tax and responsibility for collection rests with individual local authorities, this includes enforcement. Therefore, the Scottish Government cannot provide you with the information under the terms of your request because the Scottish Government does not hold that information.

Local authorities have a range of powers they can use to collect outstanding Council Tax, and these include the power to apply to a Sheriff Court for a Summary Warrant, although they are not obliged to do so. There are a number of methods by which the Sheriff Officer can enforce council tax arrears where payment arrangements made directly with the debtor are not possible including, for example, by deduction from benefit payments, earnings arrestment or money attachment.

I would like to know what law is broken if council tax is not paid

Ultimately, if a Council Taxpayment is not made, then authorities can recover the debt by diligence, under an ordinary court action warrant or a summary warrant.

Council Tax legislation requires local authorities to follow prescribed procedures if a taxpayer fails to pay them – these are set out in in paragraph 2(2) of schedule 8 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (legislation.gov.uk).

The summary warrant procedure, which has been in use for more than one hundred years, is only available through statutory powers. It offers them a means of recovering debt without having to resort to the full court process in every individual case. Summary warrants differ from ordinary debt actions. A summary warrant may allow for the attachment of goods or the arrestment of earnings or funds in bank accounts.

The summary warrant is fast tracked in several ways. It is obtained by application to the Sheriff by the local authority rather than as a result of obtaining a decree for payment in a court action. Executing the diligences authorised by the summary warrant currently allow faster application and less court involvement than those authorised by an ordinary decree.

There is no statutory requirement on local authority creditors to pass a warrant directly to sheriff officers for enforcement. It is for authorities themselves to determine the most appropriate means for recovery of debts and there is nothing to prevent them from continuing to press debtors for repayment before passing a summary warrant to sheriff officers to be executed.

While a debtor has no opportunity to object to the granting of a summary warrant the local authority incurs strict liability in damages for wrongful diligence if the debtor establishes that the certificate supporting the application was incorrect, for example, should the debt have already been paid.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.