There is ample documentary evidence that Audit Scotland is responsible for this. Audit Scotland provide documents supplied to them by the Audit Commission in support of precisely such nonsense. Yet Nagina Akram of the Audit Commission doesn't believe that the term 'single person discount' cause any misunderstanding. It does, and the Audit Commission is very largely to blame for this.
The following nonsense comes from Edinburgh Council Web Site.
I feel that somebody ought to get sacked for putting this online, and if it reflects what the council is doing more than one person ought to get sacked. There is probably nothing at all 'legal' about using Experian's information for this purpose; maladministration cannot by definition be in accordance with the law.
Council tax discounts
Single person's discount checks
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Do you currently claim single person's discount on your Council tax? We are carrying out checks to make sure the 25% discount on Council tax bill is given only those entitled to it.
This is one of a number of initiatives we are carrying out to ensure that the right people are getting the discounts and benefits due to them. It also helps us to improve Council tax collection so that we have more money to improve services for you.
How the checks are carried out
The Council is using Experian to compare details of properties where single person discount is being claimed with other information to check if there seems to be more than one person living at any address. When information shows there may be more than one person living at an address we will send a form to check the details.
If the details returned confirms a person is no longer living alone, the discount will be stopped and you will have to pay back any money that was due for the time you were claiming incorrectly. We will also investigate further where the checks show more than one person living at an address but this is disputed by the person claiming the discount.
