The first piece of bad news is that Capita is involved. Capita routinely asserts that disregard categories are discounts*. Disregard categories are just that: categories of people who fall to be disregarded, or who do not count as residents. Capita run data mining exercises to identify people as 'high risk' fraud cases, in, it would appear, a similar manner to the NFI. It usually misleadingly alleges or implies that the people concerned were claiming to live alone and puts only a fraction of single person discount recipients into the match.
It uses the full electoral register to decide that people are entitled to a discount of the appropriate amount, which nobody has been given legal advice is legal and proper/pretends that it is checking 'claim's that particular circumstances exist. Garbage like 'checking your validity to claim single person discount' is usually used about such reviews, in an apparent attempt to square Regulation 14 with what is being done. Regulation 14 has been turned from a duty to ascertain whether any discount applies and if so the amount of that discount into a duty to check whether a discount which DOES NOT EXIST is being 'claimed' correctly.
It works with credit reference firms to do this, and has lie detection voice software on its phones, another strategy which has caused injustice and distress. The software appears to be unable to distinguish between innocent and distressed people and guilty people. A great many entitled people have been distressed or enraged by the practices of councils which have outsourced revenue functions to Capita.
Let us see whether the web site of Westminster provides clear and accurate information to taxpayers.
When we work out the full Council Tax amount we assume that two adults are living in the property.
You should not. Council tax law contains no such provision or requirement.
If you think you may be entitled to a discount or that your property is exempt for one or more of the reasons stated, you can download an application form from this page
carers discount, apprentice discount, child benefit discount, student discount
These are not discounts, as you are telling people, they are categories of disregarded adults. To be fair, another page does state that these groups of people are 'not counted' when deciding how many residents there are. But the taxpayer has probably been confused by the bits he has read and may not get that far. It seems fairly clear, however, that Capita does regard some people as 'claiming' or 'receiving' a single person discount as opposed to a disregard discount, and that these are the people whose address is sent to the credit reference agency for data mining.
This is confirmed by the council's annual council tax leaflet, a document which should contain information prescribed by law but which in fact contains other misleading information, again on the lines that disregard categories are types of discount. **
Other information provided by the council calls disregard categories 'status discounts'
Misinformation therefore runs throughout the documents via which this council communicates to its residents.
If you are an individual living in Westminster you may use your My Westminster account to register a property and up to 6 residents for Council Tax.
There is no requirement to 'register' residents for council tax. The requirement for a local taxation register was abolished along with the poll tax. Why is Westminster saying things like this on its web site. The LGO has explicitly rebuked one council for telling people they have to 'register' for council tax, with the reason being that this is not true.
*
http://www.swindon.gov.uk/ab/ab-counciltax/ab-counciltax-discounts/Documents/counciltaxdiscountapplicationform1107.pdf
http://www.capita.co.uk/markets/Documents/SPD%20Brochure_2012_FINAL.pdf
http://www.mendip.gov.uk/NewsArticle.asp?id=SX9452-A783C976
**
http://transact.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/council%20tax%20a-z%202012-13.pdf
See also November 11 2011 nfi asserts in press release it has found More than £22 million worth of false claims for student and single person council tax discounts; source cites 'Protecting the Public Purse' annual report for 2011
