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INSIGHT
INSIDE: Collection & enforcement • Back office processing • Technology special • Credit notes
October 2014 £6.50 www.irrv.net
ISSN
136
1-13
05
Passionate, enthusiastic and a workaholicKevin Stewart FIRRV, MAAT, MCMI,
is the new President of the IRRVand a man of change, writesLester Dinnie
The monthly journal of the Institute of Revenues, Rating & Valuation
IRRV INSIGHT
Managing Editor
John Roberts
Editorial Director
Lester Dinnie
Art Director
Don Tregartha
Designers
Clare Barker
Roddy Clenaghan
Copy Editor
Vicki Chastney
Publisher
Tregartha Dinnie
Ltd
IRRV
Chief Executive David Magor OBE IRRV (Hons) Northumberland House 5th Floor 303-306 High Holborn London WC1V 7JZ T 020 7831 3505 E [email protected] W www.irrv.net
Enquiries Membership 020 7691 8996 Conferences 020 7691 8987 Subscriptions 020 7691 8996
©IRRV 2014. Reproduction in whole or in part of any article is prohibited without prior written consent. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily represent the views of theInstitute. Whilst all due care is taken regarding the accuracy of information, no responsibility can be accepted for errors. Any advice given does not constitute a legal opinion.
Features
Robert Brown BSc FRICS FIRRV
Carol Cutler IRRV (Hons)
Louise Freeth FIRRV
Gordon Heath BSc IRRV (Hons)
Roger Messenger BSc (Est Man) FRICS FIRRV MCIArb REV
Angela Storey Tech IRRV MCMI
Your IRRV Council:
IRRV PRESIdENT Richard Harbord MPhil CPFA FCCA IRRV (Hons) FIDP FBIM FRSA
SENIoR VICE PRESIdENT Kevin Stewart FIRRV MAAT MCMI
Alan Bronte FRICS IRRV (Hons)
david Chapman IRRV (Hons)
Phil Adlard Tech IRRV MlnstLM MCMI
John Clark FIRRV
Tom dixon RD BSc (Est Man) FRICS IRRV (Hons)
Ian Ferguson IRRV (Hons)
Richard Guy FRICS (Dip Rating) FIRRV MCIArb
Mary Hardman IRRV (Hons) FRICS MCMI
Paul Mcdermott IRRV (Hons)
Kerry Macdermott IRRV (Hons)
JUNIoR VICE PRESIdENTJim McCafferty IRRV (Hons)
Maureen Neave Tech IRRV
Nick Rowe IRRV (Hons)
Alistair Townsend IRRV (Hons) MCMI
Bob Trahern IRRV (Hons)
HoNoRARy TREASURER Allan Traynor FCCA IRRV (Hons)
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Advertising T 020 7691 8979 E [email protected]
Editorial John Roberts IRRV (Hons) T 07952 659 258 E [email protected]
Tregartha Dinnie Ltd Ibex House 5 Keller Close Kiln Farm Milton Keynes MK11 3LL T 01908 306500 W www.tregartha-dinnie.co.uk
IRRV INSIgHT is produced by Tregartha Dinnie Ltd on behalf of the IRRV.
Unless otherwise indicated, copyright in this publication belongs to the IRRV.
October 2014 ISSN 1361-1305
Cover story 19
Passionate, enthusiastic anda workaholic
Kevin Stewart FIRRV, MAAT, MCMI, is the new President of the IRRV and a man of change.
International perspective 24
Land and property taxation is alive and well worldwide...as IPTI’s Paul Sanderson explains.
Technology 28
Making it mobile and Shifting up a gearArticles by Simon Bailey and Vanessa Parfitt.
Editor’s welcome
3
Regular items
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John Roberts IRRV (Hons) is Managing Editor of the Institute’s magazines
As we prepare to celebrate what will undoubtedly be yet another successful Annual Conference and Performance Awards event, I have an offer for you that you can’t refuse!
Many of you will be attending the Telford event, either as full delegates, day delegates, exhibitors or team members of the many organisations selected as Performance Award finalists. Whatever your role at the event, I want to speak to you!
My offer is simple. If you are prepared to put fingers to keyboard and convey some of those views that you are all very willing to put forward when challenging our conference speakers, we will print your offering without exception! October is the time of the year when I discuss with our publishing house the manner in which we might ‘refresh’ your magazine in readiness for the forthcoming year, and it would be an added bonus if, as part of that exercise, we were able to introduce a number of new columns and new contributors.
So don’t be shy – introduce yourself and come forward with your contributions. If you don’t already know me, the photo above should give you a clue. I’m attending the whole event, and will be regularly paying visits to the IRRV stand and registration desk, the exhibition area... and of course the conference hotel bar! I look forward to meeting you.
In the meantime, our conference edition of Insight includes the usual mix of contributions from both regular and new authors, together with our usual collection of material illustrating the Institute’s prominence in our professions, and of course the traditional feature on our incoming Institute President – read on and enjoy!
“Welcome to the latest edition of the IRRV’s membership magazine, Insight”
What’s in the next issue... • all the news from the 2014 IRRV Annual
Conference and Performance Awards
• management and leadership the Mark Davies way
• World War One through the eyes of the Institute and its predecessor body.
A message from the Deputy Chief Executive.
Log in to ‘magazines’ in themember area of www.irrv.net to hear the message online.
Chief Executive’s notes 05
News and events 06
Education and membership 08
Running the Institute 10
From the archives 12
Faculty Board report 13
Valuation matters 14
Benefits bulletin 16
Credit notes 17
Back office processing 22
Collection & enforcement 23
LGO update 27
Management 32
Doherty’s despatch 33
Viewpoint 34
ross robertsCIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS
With tighter budgets and tough targets, no-one is going to suggest that the sector is anything but stressful right now.
That’s why working with ross & roberts is like a breath of fresh air. No corporate bureaucracy, just local people in local offices working hard to get the job done on your behalf.
ross & roberts has established a reputation for its performance and itspeople, building lasting relationships with customers and creating confidence in methods and results.
So if you’re finding the times a little stressful – why not take a little r&r?
responsible for revenues & benefits?
...award yourselves a little r r
Ross & Roberts Head OfficeUnit 8 Wessex Park,Bancombe Road Trading Estate,Somerton, Somerset TA11 6SBTel 01425 482330 Fax 01425 480438Email [email protected]
VISIT US ON STAND 30
at the IRRV Annual Conference &
Exhibition, Telford, 7th-8th October
2014
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5David Magor OBE IRRV (Hons) is Chief Executive of the Institute
The health of the Institute has mirrored that of our colleagues
in the public sector, and of the stakeholders that support it.
The spending power of both has been significantly reduced as
the country struggles to lift our economy back to the buoyancy
of the early years of the new century.
So it is with a degree of trepidation that I am pleased to
report an improvement in our financial performance. This
has been achieved in an environment of continuing pressure
on our traditional customer base – particularly represented
by local government, where expenditure on conferences and
training has been severely curtailed. This improvement in
performance has been delivered in spite of a continuing
lack of investment in our activities both in the public and
private sector.
The team at headquarters have worked very hard to find
new markets and improve the quality of our existing services
whilst keeping expenditure to a minimum. We understand both
the private and public sectors are under extreme operational
pressure, and we need to respond to this by giving excellent
value for money in everything we do.
The maintenance of membership levels is critical to our
future, and we must build new opportunities for those who
wish to join us. To this end we have developed three new educational streams to meet the demands of the market
place. The first is the level three qualification in non-domestic rates. The first year has been a resounding success, and
we intend to build on this by developing the initial learning
material, particularly in the field of valuation. The second is
the partnership with the Royal Agricultural University,
and the development of a degree course which will offer
exciting opportunities for those wishing to enter the valuation
profession. The most recent addition to our portfolio has
been the level two vocational qualifications in taking
control of goods. The formal launch will take place at this
year’s national conference. The material is already in place for
the underpinning learning, and we expect to make the web-
based system available to both those taking the qualification
and those who only wish to expand their knowledge.
The overall learning process will be accompanied by a
continuous professional education process that will
ensure those in the profession are always up to date with the
latest law and practice.
Both the Council and the Institute’s staff have contributed to
this improved situation, and I am grateful for their efforts, but
we must not be complacent, as there is still a long way to go.
To achieve our objectives we must all work together to make
the Institute stronger, in order to meet the challenges of the
next five years.
Chief Executive’s notes
“We understand both the private and public sectors are under extreme operational pressure, and we need to respond to this by giving excellent value for money in everything we do.”
Fighting for the future......is a key role for the Institute, emphasises David Magor
Now is the time of the year when the Council of the Institute reports on the activity of the previous year. Since 2009, this has become an increasingly depressing event, with surpluses turning into deficits and membership numbers in decline.
ross robertsCIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS
With tighter budgets and tough targets, no-one is going to suggest that the sector is anything but stressful right now.
That’s why working with ross & roberts is like a breath of fresh air. No corporate bureaucracy, just local people in local offices working hard to get the job done on your behalf.
ross & roberts has established a reputation for its performance and itspeople, building lasting relationships with customers and creating confidence in methods and results.
So if you’re finding the times a little stressful – why not take a little r&r?
responsible for revenues & benefits?
...award yourselves a little r r
Ross & Roberts Head OfficeUnit 8 Wessex Park,Bancombe Road Trading Estate,Somerton, Somerset TA11 6SBTel 01425 482330 Fax 01425 480438Email [email protected]
Mark Barry... a fitness update!Members will recall from August Insight the challenge faced by arvato’s Mark Barry, who tackles Mount Kilimanjaro’s daunting heights later this month in aid of the Princes Trust.In preparation, Mark has recently tackled the
Lake District ‘five peaks’, with the aim of com-
pleting them all in under 10 hours. This will in-
volve ascents of over 5,000ft. Put into context,
it will take six days to ascend Kilimanjaro!
Mark says, “To give myself the best op-
portunity to achieve my ultimate goal, I have
hit the gym, the roads and the mountains of
Snowdonia, losing three stone in weight in
the process. My previous, lifestyle choices of
takeaways, chocolate, far too many beers and
a comfy sofa have had to be pushed aside. I
am now fitter than I have been for 15 years...
but will it be enough?”
Mark asks you to consider supporting him in
this endeavour by donating a few pounds, or
more if you can afford it, on www.justgiving.com/Mark-Barry or you can text MPTC50
£amount to 70070 – and don’t forget to check
out Mark’s very own blog on http://mark-sptc.blogspot.com.
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News and events
News of members
Layla Stephen’slatest challenge!Members who are friends with Layla Stephen will already know that she doesn’t do things by halves!Diagnosed with incurable Mutliple
Neuroendocrine tumours back in 2008,
shortly after Hadley, her son, was born, Layla’s
treatment is still going well (after six operations
and 39 hours of surgery!), so to celebrate five
years of cancer survival, Hadley managed a
sponsored sleepover at the top of Portsmouth’s
170 metre Spinaker Tower earlier this year...
and Layla followed up by abseiling down it!
Fellow IRRV members Rachel McAviney and
Helen Stokes (photographed with Layla) took
up the challenge to join her on the day.
Layla invites members to give generously
to her beloved PLANETS Charity, which helps
the clinical team “...that have helped me to
kick the butt out of this horrible disease, to
date!” she adds. You can donate on http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndyStephen.
And as if that’s not enough, Layla has taken
up a new appointment as Client Development
Manager with enforcement company Bristow
and Sutor from the beginning of this month –
good luck all round, Layla!
Association news
I do like to be besidethe seasideOne of Institute President Richard Harbord’s final events took in the picturesque scene in the very far south-eastern tip of England, as he travelled to the remote Isle of Thanet... home of two former Institute Presidents, John
Charman and your Editor – to enjoy the company of the South Eastern Association at their annual dinner.Association President Sharon Harvey is
photographed injecting a little humour into an
event that always has its fair share of that often
rare commodity! The Association is grateful
to Chris Rundle of Rundle and Co. for his
company’s continuing support for the event.
Farewell to old friendsInsight is saddened to report the loss of three stalwarts who served the body in different roles.Sir David Yardley, who died earlier this
year, chaired the Institute’s examining
board for many years, although he was
perhaps better known for his role as Local
Government Ombudsman, a post he held
from 1994 until 2006. Michael Hopkins will
provide some personal recollections of Sir
David’s IRRV involvement in his November
Insight education and membership roundup.
November Insight will also include a fitting
tribute to former Institute Council member
Rex Hudson, who sadly also passed away
earlier this year.
As members will have already noted from
the Institute’s website, Past President
Barbara Culverhouse lost her battle with
cancer recently, and November Insight will
include a special feature celebrating the
life of our first woman President, and a
great friend and inspiration to many of our
members
both past and
present.
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The President’s blog As Institute President Richard Harbord’s year in office comes to a close with the customary handover to incoming President Kevin Stewart at the forthcoming Performance Awards gala dinner, he continues to invite members to share in his activities.
You can find out exactly what Richard has
been up to in the closing weeks of his year
by logging in to http://richardharbord.blogspot.
Northern Ireland Lands Tribunal fees consultationThe Institute was recently invited to contribute to consultation announced in respect of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service’s (NICTS) intention to make changes to the fees charged in the Lands Tribunal for non-domestic rating valuation appeals.
Comments were sought by the end of
August, and the resultant paper was due to
be published at the time of this magazine
going to print, leaving a twelve week period
for further comment, leading to a new
structure from April 2015.
Under the current non-domestic valuation
process in Northern Ireland, if a ratepayer
feels that their rates are too high there
are a number of steps they can take to
seek redress. Following these steps, if the
ratepayer remains dissatisfied with the
Valuation Commissioner’s decision, they can
appeal to the Northern Ireland Valuation
Tribunal (for mixed properties with both
domestic and non-domestic use where
the Net Annual Value (NAV) is less than
£12,500) or more commonly the Lands
Tribunal for Northern Ireland for all other
non-domestic properties.
The civil courts in Northern Ireland,
and other United Kingdom jurisdictions,
operate under a policy of full cost recovery
by charging fees for the services provided.
The fees charged are set in legislation and
are based on recovering the administrative,
judicial and other costs associated with
the proceedings.
NICTS have completed a costing exercise
of the Lands Tribunal and developed
proposals for a revised fee structure which
recognises the need to strike a balance
between ensuring access to justice and
meeting cost recovery objectives.
News and events
English non-domestic rating appeals monitoring This year’s Autumn Statement included an announcement that confirmed that the rating system should provide “an easy to use and prompt opportunity for ratepayers to understand their rateable value and challenge it if necessary.”
The statement continued, “However, the
current system lacks transparency, and
large volumes of unsuccessful, sometimes
speculative, appeals create delays for other
businesses. Progress has been made on
reducing the backlog in appeals, but it
is still too high with over 168,000 cases
outstanding as at September 2013.”
The government announced a
commitment to resolve 95% of outstanding
cases by July 2015. The following web
page reports progress against this
commitment, and the methodology used
to monitor this progress – http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/News/2014/newsRelease_24_07_2014.html.
Are you going to Telford?If you’re not one of the IRRV members already booked to attend theInstitute’s flagship Annual Conference and Performance Awards eventat Telford International Centre this month, there’s still time to book.
To book your place, go to www.irrv.net and click on the home page link to this must attend event.
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Education and membership
Michael Hopkins is Qualifications and Membership
Manager with the IRRV. Contact him on
[email protected] or 020 7691 8978
New members
StudENt mEmbErSName employer
Justine Baxter Capita Business Services Ltd
Natasha Brooks Chiltern District Council
Jamie Browne Capita Business Services Ltd
Paul Bugeja Forest Heath District Council
Malini Dey Enfield London BC
Joanne Dyer Bracknell Forest BC
Sonia Foster Breckland District Council
Cindy Hamlin Bracknell Forest BC
Charlotte Lowe Shropshire Council
Jackie McDonnell Breckland District Council
Calum Mitchell Enfield London BC
Ella Odusina Broxbourne Borough Council
Margaret Orepitan Enfield London BC
Emma Pask Breckland District Council
Stella Violet Perkins Chiltern District Council
James Smith Breckland District Council
Charles Walker St Edmundsbury BC
Claire Werra Capita Business Services Ltd
OCF mEmbErS Name employer
Charlotte Hale Milton Keynes Council
COrpOratE mEmbErS Name employer
Phyllis Chapman Lancashire County Council
HONOurS mEmbErS Name employer
David Walton DWA Surveyors Ltd
OrGaNISatIONaL mEmbErS Name
County Enforcement Group
HUB Solutions Limited
The cycle of change in national qualifications is
likely to continue, especially in the vocational
area. Jill Lanning, recently retired Director of the
Federation of Awarding Bodies, to which the
Institute is affiliated, provided an overview of
the qualifications scene prior to her departure.
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), which for four years has been the basis
of vocational and ‘vocationally related’ qualifications, is likely to evolve again.
Jill Lanning writes, “The last four and a half
years might have been more productive if
we had not had to deal with the fact that the
new coalition government took a good look at
things in 2010 and then threw everything up
in the air so that it could settle back into a new
landscape of their making – despite saying
that they were not going to make large scale
changes to education! All of the changes to
qualifications, and the continued slashing of
public funding for adult learning, can make the
landscape look very bleak, and certainly there
are turbulent times ahead for awarding bodies.
However, I am reassured by the fact that
awarding bodies existed, and had a key role in
the skills training world before we got national
oversight of vocational qualifications, and I do
believe they will continue to exist to serve their
learners, providers and employers.”
Whatever the national changes in education,
the Institute will continue to serve its
professional areas by offering its qualifications,
both externally regulated and self-regulated,
at three broad levels. It has worked to
accommodate and adapt to the national
regulations currently in force, and over the
last decade has sought to obtain
and maintain accreditation for its Certificate-
level qualifications.
Jill concludes that, “much of what you offer
now may look quite different in a few years’
time, and much may well operate outside
the regulated and funded arena with the
associated freedom that this can bring”. This
would certainly be a full turn of the circle from
the Institute’s self-regulated days, through the
various versions of national frameworks that
we have seen, to the QCF under which we
now operate. More will be revealed (and, it
hoped, taken into account by the regulator) at
an ofqual event this autumn, where awarding
bodies will discuss the future. Whether this will
be a genuine consultation, as it is advertised,
remains to be seen.
IRRV members, and other readers of this magazine, will have noted the new access arrangements to the electronic version. Using pageSuite, an advanced publications
platform, we can now enable readers to see the current magazine and past electronic copies on one site. There is also a search facility for past articles. Now that there is a fixed link for all magazine editions – it does not change each month as it used to – members can access the new magazines at any time, and are urged to enter a personal password after accessing PageSuite once. At the start of each month, therefore, members can access the new edition without an email prompt from headquarters. We will nevertheless continue to send the reminder for the foreseeable future.
It’s all change yet again, michael Hopkins discovers, in his latest education and membership roundup
IrrV June examination pass list
IrrV leVel 3 CerTIFICaTe IN loCal TaxaTIoN aNd BeNeFITS
– eNGlaNd & WaleS
David Bird Durham County Council
Robert Brunton Bath & North East Somerset Council
Gary Castle Suffolk Coastal District Council
Gary is subject prizewinner in Cert L3 Non-Domestic Rating Law
John Cramp Oadby & Wigston Borough Council
Jacqueline Dobson Gateshead Council
Andrew Gadd East Wales Office – Valuation Tribunal Service
Jodie Gardiner Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Tracey George Merton London Borough Council
Sophia Georgiou-Hall Watford Borough Council
Sally Griffiths Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council
Petros Hadjimichael Enfield London Borough Council
Robert Hayle Milton Keynes Council
Katie Hendry Doncaster Office – Valuation Tribunal Service
Catrin Jones East Wales Office – Valuation Tribunal Service
Paul Jones Monmouthshire County Council
Sharon Leaver Bracknell Forest Borough Council
Lucy Lowin Runnymede Borough Council
Andrew McGirr Harrow London Borough Council
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Congratulations to everyone!!
IRRV June examination pass list cont.
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Peter Minto Durham County Council
Tania Newman Reading Borough Council
Niamh Ni-Ghormain Birmingham City Council
Stacey Smith Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Theresa Tassell Enfield London Borough Council
Liane Tew Eastbourne Borough Council
Victoria Ward Durham County Council
Ben Wilesmith Kettering Borough Council
IRRV LeVeL 3 CeRTIfICaTe IN BuSINeSS RaTeS
Emma Nicholson BNP Paribas Real Estate
IRRV CeRTIfICaTe IN LoCaL TaxaTIoN aNd BeNefITS
– SCoTLaNd
Nicola Bayne Fife Council
Andrew Daley East Dunbartonshire Council
Laura Fairlie Dundee City Council
Peter Gunn The Highland Council
Gillian Johnston Fife Council
Kenneth Lee Dumfries & Galloway Council
Thomas Matthews Dundee City Council
Carol McColl Fife Council
Louise Penman City of Edinburgh Council
Louise Spencer West Lothian Council
Kerry Stephen Fife Council
Duncan Stevenson Dumfries & Galloway Council
Duncan is subject prizewinner in Council Tax Law
Jane Tindal Dundee City Council
IRRV dIpLoma quaLIfICaTIoN
Kevin Fraser Perth & Kinross Council
Nina Ferguson (not available)
Rachel McAviney Gosport Borough Council
Kevin Murphy (not available)
Liza Pickstock Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council
Liza is subject prizewinner in Management Paper 1
Lyndsey Williams South Lakeland District Council
HoNouRS quaLIfICaTIoN
Andrew Birch North Lincolnshire Council
Dharsh Chander Liberata UK Ltd
Claire Cracknell Harrogate Borough Council
Rachel Ellis Rhondda Taf County Borough Council
Lorraine King Breckland District Council
Voa fuLL pRofeSSIoNaL quaLIfICaTIoN
Robert Leppard Plymouth Valuation Office Agency
Helen James Wrexham Valuation Office Agency
Denise Sandell Bromley Valuation Office Agency
IRRV Scotland Training andConferences Calendar Autumn 2014
T: 01382 456029
W: www.irrvscotland.org.uk
15 October Housing Benefit – Complex Cases
22 October Rent Collection during Welfare Reform
23 October Insolvency training day
24 October Managing Discretionary Housing Payments against competing demands
28 October Council Tax Masterclass
29 October Effective Telephone Debt Collection
4 November Non Domestic Rates training day
7 November Debt Collection in Revenues: The impact of welfare reform and Scottish Government policies
14 November Budget management in Revenues & Benefits including constructing the case for shared services
19 November Miscellaneous Income Conference
27 November Joint Conference with Money Advice Scotland
4 December Update on Corporate Debt – implementation issues
10+11 December Scottish Benefits Conference and Exhibition
campus shop and stock up on energy drinks
and chocolate.
On the first evening, there was no food
provided by the university, which gave the group
the opportunity to sample the local pub’s cuisine
in the village of Keele. This also gave us a chance
to socialise and get to know one another outside
of the classroom.
After dinner, for some of the group, the
long distances travelled that morning and the
intensity of the working day pointed straight
towards a sensible and well-earned early night.
However, for those of us who managed to stay
the distance, our reward was an evening spent
with our colleagues and new found friends from
the Shetland Islands, who had travelled the 600
or so miles that day in order to arrive the evening
before their level 3 certificate course started.
Although they didn’t bring their own interpreter
with them, google translate worked wonders, and
On Friday 25th April I woke up early and pointed
my car in the direction of Keele University in
Staffordshire. I had told my friends and family
that I was off to university for a week, and rallied
by their support and assurances that it would be
“just like my student days”, I set off with a spring
in my step and much excitement at the prospect
of eating Pot Noodles and partying until dawn
for a whole week!
In hindsight, I should have consulted my
course planner before getting quite so excited,
because I don’t know of any students who
have lectures that start at 9.00am and finish
at 7.00pm. Also, my nostalgic reminiscences
of my student days may be a little misplaced
as I’ve never been to university – nor do I like
Pot Noodles!
There is no denying that the days were
long. They were very long. However, it soon
became apparent that the packed timetable was
necessary in order to get through the myriad of
study material that is required before entering
the exams.
Having undertaken the Diploma course by
distance learning, I was at Keele to study
Management, Law of Council Tax and NNDR
and Revenues Administration with Public Sector
Finance. My group was a mix of students who
had studied by distance learning and some who
had studied on day release. This made for a
good variety of people who knew each other and
those, like me, who hadn’t had any interaction
with other students studying the same course.
Day one started with a brief introduction and
outline of the course timetable, as well as the
general housekeeping... and most importantly,
the location of all of the bars on and off campus.
Once the niceties were over, though, we
were very quickly plunged into our first day of
management studies.
Although the days were long and the learning
was intense, the course was timetabled such that
there were regular breaks for coffee and tea, and
a chance to rest your brain and ready yourself for
the next subject. Either that, or stroll down to the
an evening of fun and laughter ensued!
The accommodation at Keele is standard
university halls accommodation. It’s unlikely that
the rooms will win any awards for their grandeur,
and the lack of hot tubs and maître d’ services
was quite apparent, but as a student on the
revision course, I hardly spent any time in my
room, because there was so much going on
elsewhere. When I did eventually retire, I found
a clean, warm and comfortable room with an
en suite, plenty of space, and a desk, although
after the full days of studying, the desk didn’t see
much action!
I couldn’t possibly write an account of my time
at Keele without mentioning the food provided
by the university canteen. I must confess I
expected to relive my old school dinners of
concrete chips and soggy semolina. Surprisingly
though, this was not the case. The university
seems to employ actual chefs who really do a
Andrew Solley is clear about the value of the Keele pre-examination event
Running the Institute
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It’s a must for all IRRV students!
Andrew shows it’s not all hard work, as he poses with
fellow students Kate Darlington and Abigail Hart
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Andrew Solley is Revenues Manager with Gedling Borough Council and Secretary of the Institute’s East Midlands Association
Running the Institute
great job. Brazilian salsa night was my particular
favourite, although with three cooked meals
a day, my waistline expanded almost in direct
correlation with my brain capacity during the
course of the week.
Whilst the study course was going on at the
university, the IRRV’s Welfare Reform and Benefits and Collection and Enforcement conferences were being run at the same
location. As well as conference delegates,
the events also attract a number of private
and public sector exhibitors who are there to
demonstrate their services to the industry. The
students were all given a pass to the exhibition,
which created an opportunity for those who
are studying to network with colleagues with
varying degrees of experience in the industry
in a relaxed and informal environment, as well
as getting an insight into the latest industry
specific tools and services available in the
market place. Not to mention the free pair of
slippers I was given by one particular exhibitor!
Having elected to study by distance learning,
I found the course at Keele essential to my
learning. Distance learning is difficult at the
best of times, but the Keele course was just
what I needed to consolidate all of my learning
up to that point, and fill the many gaps that
I had in my knowledge. The lecturers were,
without exception, friendly, knowledgeable
and professional. Personally, I would have
found it very difficult to enter the exams
without the tuition I received at Keele, and I
would recommend the course for all students,
particularly those who are studying by
distance learning.
The summer examination sessions
are now over, and those who have entered
exams will have passed through the period of
awaiting their results, which of course have
now been released, and are shown on pages
8 and 9 of this magazine. Whatever the final
outcome, I’d like to take this opportunity to
wish all my new found Keele friends, and all
students who have taken exams this summer,
the very best of luck in their careers.
“Personally, I would have found it very difficult to enter the exams without the tuition I received at Keele, and I would recommend the course for all students, particularly those who are studying by distance learning.”
IRRV Annual Scottish Benefits Conference & Exhibition 2014
T: 01382 456029
W: www.irrvscotland.org.uk
Scotland’s Major Benefits Event
IRRV in Scotland is delighted to announce the return of the Scottish Benefits Conference, taking place at Crieff Hydro Hotel – on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th December 2014.
This is a major event in the Institute’s calendar and an excellent opportunity for senior benefits practitioners and their staff to hear about the key issues affecting the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction in Scotland.
The IRRV is pleased to advise of a very strong field of speakers and an extremely comprehensive programme of topics at this year’s Scottish Benefits Conference – more details available from IRRV Scotland’s website:
www.irrvscotland.org.uk
The Executive Committee met for the first time in
1896 on 11th January. Minutes from the meeting
of 7th December 1895 were received and agreed.
A letter of regret was than read from the Chairman,
stating his inability to be present at the meeting.
A letter was also read from the representative for
Chelsea resigning his membership on account
of ill health, although to this communication, Mr
Aldridge (the representative of the said Parish)
said no notice need be taken. Quite what that
meant, we will never know!
Some correspondence from Mr Robertson
(joint collector for St. Mary Newington) was
than laid before the Committee, in which the
gentleman thanked the Executive for their recent
offer of advice. The several officers were no
longer in immediate danger of losing their jobs,
and therefore they would not have cause to seek
aid from the Association.
With this position welcomed by the Executive,
the Honorary Secretary then laid before the
Committee the annual statement of accounts that
had been signed by the auditors. Since the closure
of the year, he reported that £6.0.0 had been
received in subscriptions for the current year, with
a further £2.5.0 towards the benevolent fund. The
balance at the bankers now stood at £45.6.7.
The dinner sub-committee then presented
their report on the arrangements for the
forthcoming annual dinner. Through the Honorary
Secretary, Mr Herbert Schartau’s party had been
engaged for £7.7.0, Mr Frederick Cozeno for
£2.2.0, and Mr A G Cunningham for £1.1.0.
Looking at the costs, one has to presume
Mr Schartau either had a very large party or
was accomplished at what he did!
A short discussion then ensued as to the
possibility of engaging Mr George Harlow from
the Coldstream Guards (the oldest regiment
in the British Army) as a cornet soloist. The
sum would be one guinea if he provided his
own accompanist. On a motion from Mr White
(seconded by Mr French) it was resolved not to
engage Mr Harlow. However, an amendment was
then put by Mr Madge (seconded by Mr Foot) that
the engagement be approved on slightly different
terms. Following a division, the amendment was
carried and Mr Harlow was engaged.
A notice of motion from the Chairman (who
was not in attendance) was then put to the
Committee. This has been carried over from
the last meeting, and was proposing collecting
donations from members at the forthcoming
annual dinner. Eventually, after taking into
consideration that many in attendance would
be visitors and friends, it was not something
that would be taken forward, and the idea was
abandoned. Who was to tell the chairman is not
recorded. At this point, the meeting concluded.
The Executive Committee next met on 25th
January, with the Chairman back at the helm. The
minutes from the meeting on 11th January were
agreed, and the Honorary Secretary reported that
the balance at the bankers now stood at £55.14.6.
Since the last meeting, subscriptions amounting to
£7.0.0 and benevolent fund donations of £1.10.0
had been received. It was added that Mr Leopold
Loly (Shoreditch) had expressed a wish to be
enrolled as a member of the Association. One
must presume this was accepted.
Once the meeting of the Executive had
concluded, the AGM took place, with Mr Schiller
in the chair. The minutes from the meeting
held on 26th January 1895 were read and duly
agreed; as was the annual report and balance
sheet. One can but hope the AGM this year runs
as smoothly in Telford on 7th October 2014!
Members then moved to the election of
officers. Mr Schiller (seconded by Mr Foot)
proposed Mr George Ager as the new Chairman.
Mr Walden then moved (seconded by Mr Cook)
that Mr Hunter be elected as Vice Chairman
– both positions were agreed. Mr Ricketts
(proposed by Mr French and seconded by Mr
Sales) was than asked to continue as Honorary
Secretary. At this point, Mr Ricketts asked that
he not be considered for the post, and that
an alternative candidate be considered. At the
special desire of the new Chairman, Mr Ager,
this request was not accepted, and Mr Ricketts
was asked to continue for one more year – this
he agreed to. The final election saw Mr Warren
appointed as auditor and Mr White (at his
request) replaced by Mr Sales.
The Chairman then put forward to the AGM
(seconded by Mr Maltby) a special vote of thanks
to Mr Schiller, the immediate past Chairman:
“That the best thanks of this Association are
due and hereby given to Mr Frederick Schiller Esq
of St Mary’s Lambeth for his zeal and untiring
energy as a member of the Executive Committee
in promoting the interests of this Association, and
for his ability and efficiency as Chairman during
the years 1893, 1894 and 1895.“
It was agreed the above resolution be duly
framed and presented to Mr Schiller at the
earliest opportunity.
Before the close of proceedings, the Chairman
remarked he thought it would not be out of place
to bring before members the recent bereavement
under which the Queen, Princess Beatrice and the
rest of the family had suffered in the loss of Prince
Henry of Battenberg (photograph above). He
begged to move the following note of condolence
to be forwarded to her Majesty, the Queen:
“The Metropolitan Rate Collectors assembled
together at their AGM and dinner humbly
and respectfully convey their sincere sympathy
and condolence to her Gracious Majesty, the
Queen and Princess Henry of Battenberg in
the irreparable loss they have suffered by
the lamented demise of His Royal Highness,
Prince Henry of Battenberg.”
This was communicated during the
meeting, and before it closed, the following
communication was received at 6.45pm:
“I am desired to convey the thanks of the
Queen and Princess Beatrice to the assembled
Metropolitan Rate Collectors for their kind
message of sympathy.”
At this point, the meeting closed and members
proceeded to attend the Annual Dinner.
Members are invited to contribute towards the feature and come forward with their own personal
memories of the Institute. The Deputy Chief Executive is also happy to try and answer any questions
on the Institute’s history. In addition, copies of previous articles can be provided on request.
Please contact him on [email protected] L Watson IRRV (Hons) is
Deputy Chief Executive of the IRRV
From the
“ A short discussion then ensued as to the possibility of engaging Mr George Harlow from the Coldstream Guards (the oldest regiment in the British Army) as a cornet soloist.”
It’s 1896, and Gary Watson introduces the first activities of another busy year in the life of our Institute
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Prince Henry of Battenberg
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Reporting on new local welfare assistance schemesThe Benefits Faculty Board is pleased to
have overseen a recent Institute initiative
to survey authorities on their approaches to
the council tax support scheme (CTS) for year three, i.e. 2015/16. The survey will
help practitioners understand the changes
local authorities are considering and identify
trends. Are moves being made away
from current schemes? Will decisions be
influenced by changes in the funding regime?
Are changes being made to discretionary
awards? Are any residency conditions being
included? Will the income taper be changed?
Will benefits be included as income? Will
maintenance in respect of children be
counted as income? Will there be reduction
or removal of backdating provisions? Will
there be a removal or reduction of protection
for any currently protected groups? The
survey also asks for practitioners’ views on
the decision, in parts of the UK, to
protect pensioners.
The Institute is also keen to learn about
the CTS appeals process – where these
are dealt with within the organisation; and
whether respondents feel confident that
staff are sufficiently aware of the procedures
around CTS appeals. The survey asks also
about the processes in place for reviews
of claims. All members of the Institute’s
Benefits Faculty and heads of benefits in
local authorities have been contacted in
relation to the survey. The Board hopes that
a high response rate will be achieved, as the
results will be collated and published, and
the trends will be available for discussion at
the IRRV’s Annual Conference in Telford.
A report was published in 2013 which
I suspect may not have had as wide a
circulation as it deserved. The Childrens’
Society report, Nowhere to Turn, examined
the new local welfare assistance schemes to
provide emergency and community support to
those in need, which replace key elements of
the discretionary Social Fund (Crisis Loans for
living expenses, and Community Care Grants)
that were abolished in the Welfare Reform Act 2012. Whilst it is now a year old, the
report is still relevant. The report identifies that
localisation of the discretionary Social Fund
will have a significant impact on families and
individuals needing support in a crisis,
and assistance to settle or re-integrate into
their community.
The report outlines the main elements of
the local welfare assistance schemes, and
highlights key ongoing areas of concern.
It found that there have been significant funding cuts, with the total funding for
local welfare assistance schemes reduced by
£150 million (in real terms) compared with
equivalent expenditure on the discretionary
Social Fund in 2010. This comes at a time
when demand is likely to be increased.
The localisation was likely to have major
consequences for access to interest free credit in emergencies – nearly two thirds
(62%) of schemes were identified as no
longer providing loans. In 2011/12 nearly
£150 million was recovered in Crisis Loan
repayments and reinvested in further
provision. Moving from loans to ‘handouts’ could mean that less assistance is available
for families in need. Broadly, the cash
assistance of the previous provision has been
replaced by ‘in kind’ support, with four fifths
of local schemes providing support directly
through goods or services, other than in
exceptional circumstances.
Concerns are raised that some of the
qualifying criteria for accessing local support
will create barriers to access for those who
need support. In particular, some local
welfare assistance schemes prevent low
income working families from making a claim,
even when they are living in poverty; and
restrict eligibility for those able to access
other sources of consumer credit. Some also
restrict access for those deemed able to rely
on borrowing and support from friends or
family, and have lengthy residency periods
before someone can make a claim.
As the new local welfare assistance provision has only just been implemented,
it remains to be seen whether these new
schemes will provide a sufficient safety net for those facing crisis situations, or in need of
community support.
The key recommendations from this
report would ensure that local schemes are
sufficiently resourced and designed to
support those families and individuals who
need it most.
The government should make no further
reductions to funding for local welfare
assistance schemes. It should ring fence the
funding which is currently available, to ensure
that it is used for the purposes intended. Local
authorities should prioritise making loans
rather than providing grants where appropriate,
in order to ensure the local fund is made
more sustainable, by using the money repaid
to help other local families. This may also
encourage financial independence. Central
government should seek provide support for
local authorities to implement loan schemes
and collect repayments.
Finally, local authorities should review their
local schemes to ensure that the right support
is offered, and that they use appropriate
eligibility criteria so that vulnerable families
– and particularly low income working
families – are not excluded and pushed
into the arms of loan sharks.
“The Board hopes that a high response rate will be achieved, as the results will be collated and published, and the trends will be available for discussion at the IRRV’s Annual Conference in Telford.”
Faculty Board report
There’s a key role for the Benefits Faculty Board in the design of council tax support, Moira Hepworth declares
Moira Hepworth is the Institute’s Policy
and Research Manager
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Rating Recent Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) decision on recovery of costs – Total Fulfilment Logistics Ltd v P May VO. The appeal against the VTE decision
was withdrawn before the UT hearing. The
VO claimed wasted costs, as the withdrawal
was “unreasonable behaviour”, but it
was held that it is not – Lands Chamber
Practice Direction 2010. Go to http://www.landstribunal.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=1055
VT decision on breeding of rats and mice (A & N Frozen Foods v J Alexander VO) – claim for exemption as agricultural
building. The appeal was dismissed. The
VTE President commented on the quote
from the ECHR Mormon case report that
“exemption is not a right but a privilege”.
The remark (not in the judgement) was that
it “does not strike me as being an accurate
or appropriate statement. It is not helpful
and not a view that should be attributed
to the Court.” Para 17 of VT decision. Go to
http://info.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/decision_keywords.asp?appeal=%2Fdecision%5Fdocuments%2Fdocuments%2FNDR%2F353021926754%2F036N10
Valuation Tribunal revised and extended Practice Statement PS A2 changes, issued 1st August 2014. Key
changes re necessary contacts/steps prior
to VT hearing – effective 1st October.
See http://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/Attending_A_Hearing/PracticeStatements.aspx includes
explanatory note.
IRRV Northern Ireland Conference on 11th September in Belfast – IRRV Council
member Alan Bronte reported on the 2015
revaluation emerging outcomes, Institute
President Richard Harbord gave an overview
of the financial issues facing the new
authorities, and Institute CEO David Magor
spoke on the future of the rating system.
The conference also included views on the
revaluation by the NI Retail Consortium,
Economic Outlook for NI, and ‘What’s up with rating policy? ’ by Brian McClure of
the NI Dept. of Finance and Personnel, in
addition to the ministerial address.
The Rating Diploma Holders’ Annual Conference, ‘Rating – Valuation First and Foremost’, was held on
18th September at the University of
Loughborough. Chairman Wayne Cox
introduced a variety of expert speakers
who examined current issues, including
changes to the appeal system, contractors
test (including the Blackbushe airport
decision), valuing ‘add-ons’, and the use
of turnover information in retail valuations.
The successful conference concluded with
the regular Duncan McLaren enthusiastic
roundup of significant Tribunal cases. Go
to http://www.rics.org/uk/training-events/conferences-seminars/rdhc-2014/loughborough/
Interested in studying for the Rating Diploma in 2015? See http://www.ratingsurveyorsassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=35
Homeworking and business rates – the
government has announced measures to
help businesses working from home, which
includes confirmation that “new business
rates guidance clarifies that in the majority
of circumstances, home based businesses
will not attract business rates” – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/backing-for-home-based-business-boom
See the current VO leaflet, ‘Home based businesses’ – http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/CouncilTax/index.html and Council Tax Manual Practice Note
8 Appendix 1 – ‘Working at or from Home – the Domestic/Non-Domestic Borderline’ – http://www.voa.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Manuals/CouncilTaxManual/council_tax_man_pn/ct-man-pn8-app1.html
Valuation matters
Valuers’ Association Monthly Page
V@MP
General practiceThe Compulsory Purchase Association is
holding its AGM on 20th October, including
the Tony Johnson Memorial Lecture,
presented by Lord Justice Sullivan, Senior
President of Tribunals. Go to http://www.compulsorypurchaseassociation.org/
Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) decision on CPO compensation for part land taken of industrial estate – Ramac v Kent CC 2014. The Tribunal
determined that the frontage strip (taken
for road widening) should be valued as
amenity land (not industrial), and no
compensation for severance and injurious
affection to the retained land (Sec.7 CPA65),
nor for Rule 6 disturbance. Go to http://www.landstribunal.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=1025
‘Trouble at Legacy CIL’ – The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) is proposing introduction of
Community Infrastructure Levies (CILs) in the Olympic Legacy area of £60
pm2 (residential) and £100 pm2 (large
shops, hotels, student accommodation
and certain retail). This is on top of the
mayoral CIL of £20/£35 pm2 for the
RICS Code of Measuring Practiceis in the process of being replaced by a new
Professional Statement (PS) for Measuring,
which is to be in accordance with the RICS International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS). The IPMS Exposure Draft for Offices was published in July, and
consultation closed on 15th September. See
http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/news-insight/news/ipms-for-offices--exposure-draft-out-for-consultation/ and www.ipmc.org. This followed an earlier consultation on
office measuring – for feedback on this see
https://fastedit.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/feedback-from-the-first-consultation.pdf The aim of the global standards is to meet the
requirements of users of property (and third
parties) for consistency of measurement. IPMS
is also working on measuring standards for
residential, followed by industrial, retail and other
sectors. The proposed offices IPMS 1, 2 and 3 on
‘components’ are similar to the UK’s GEA, GIA
and NIA respectively.
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There is no reduction in activity on the valuation scene, Geoff Fisher discovers
Olympic boroughs. The planning enquiry
is expected late in 2014. Go to http://queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/planning-authority/planning-policy/community-infrastructure-levies
New cap on councils and social landlords
for service charges to leaseholders –
£15,000 in London, and £10,000 outside
London, over a five year period. Go to
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-landlords-reduction-of-service-charges-mandatory-and-discretionary-directions-2014
The Home Loss Payment thresholds
are being raised from 1st October
2014, to a minimum of £4,900 and
a maximum of £49,000. Prescribed
amounts – Land Compensation Act 1973:
see http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1966/regulation/2/made
The European Group of Valuers’ Associations (TEGoVA) autumn meeting is in Riga, Latvia, on 23rd-25th
October, and includes the European
Valuation Conference on ‘The Greening of Valuation Practice’. TEGoVA has also
contributed to the ANEVAR Valuers’ Day (Romania) Conference on 9th
September in Bucharest. See http://www.tegova.org/en/p4d9c516461494 and http://www.tegova.org/en/p525040d2b3298
The International Valuation Standards Council is holding its AGM and
Professional and Standards Board meetings
on 23rd and 24th October. Go to http://www.ivsc.org/content/july-2014-issue-65
Valuation matters
security or utilising their current housing stock.
Many are choosing market rent over open
market sale, given the greater certainty over
future cash flows, despite the low net
rental yields.
Housing associations will, however, face
many challenges, including the high cost of
sourcing tenants in this sector, and potential
maintenance costs. This means they will
need to consider different investment
vehicles and models (e.g. special purpose
vehicles, partnerships with house builders or
institutions, issuance of bonds). In doing so,
they may have to adopt a more commercial
mindset as their selection of tenants for these
units will need to be focused on their ability to
pay as well as housing need.
A well-known example is Genesis’s Stratford Halo development of 704 units in Newham
(410 market rent, 138 social rent, 91 shared
ownership and 65 extra care).
Genesis has sought to differentiate itself from other providers of private rented
accommodation by offering tenants longer
tenancies of up to five years, with predictable
rent increases, the freedom to personalise
their own homes, and the flexibility to
move within their portfolio if tenants’
circumstances change.
Housing associations are free to enter the
private rented sector, but must comply with
their charitable aims and the limitations set by
the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) and
the Charity Commission.
The popular Victorian saying, “An
Englishman’s home is his castle”, may not
necessarily paint today’s picture, as many
people struggle to get on the property
ladder. The private rented sector (PRS) , which can be defined as any property that
is privately owned and being rented out
as housing, is due to expand significantly
over the short to medium term, due to
many different factors, from regulatory and
economic to social and technological.
In 2011/12, the PRS accounted for 17.4%
of the total housing stock in the UK (over 3.8
million houses), whereas in 1999 this figure
stood at 9.9% (2 million houses). Although
the government is implementing various
measures to boost house building and
access to mortgage finance, it is not possible
for everyone to own their own home.
The emergence of a new ‘squeezed middle’ class, i.e. those who are not eligible
for traditional social housing but who cannot
afford to buy, particularly in London and
the south east (in London, one quarter of
all households are now private renters) has
contributed to the growth in this sector.
Housing associations are well placed to take
advantage of this, as they can expand their portfolio to offer new quality middle-market
rented accommodation to intermediate
income households.
This strategy can be used to generate
capital receipts or a surplus of income to
support the more traditional areas of a
housing association’s business which require
subsidy, such as social rented and affordable
housing. If the product is right, the operation
and maintenance of such schemes can also
generate income.
Housing associations have a lot to offer in
this exciting new market, given their proven
experience in developing and managing
rented housing of scale and creating
sustainable communities. By investing in
market rent units and delivering mixed
tenure developments on larger sites, they
can be provided with cross subsidy to
acquire more land for affordable housing and
shared ownership. However, where external
finance is envisaged, this may be dependent
on them having sufficient equity to provide
Peter Massey is a partner with Penningtons
Manches LLP. See www.penningtons.co.uk
The private rented sector – do the challenges outweigh the opportunities, asks Peter Massey
“This strategy can be used to generate capital receipts or a surplus of income to support the more traditional areas of a housing association’s business which require subsidy, such as social rented and affordable housing.”
Landlord and tenant
Phil Adlard Tech IRRV MInstLM MCMI is
a member of the Institute’s Council, and
Vice-Chair of the IRRV Benefits Faculty16
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Benefits bulletin
informed views – with the result that, in fact, no
comments were received as a result of it”.
The danger is that consultation can be seen
as a bit of an inconvenience, and we can be
complacent about it. Sandwell carried out
consultation for both 2013 and 2014 schemes,
although the exercise for 2014 does appear, in
my opinion, to be a bit ‘light touch’, and this
appears to be its downfall.
It is easy to be critical, but how many of us
have thought, “Not many people contribute to
consultation papers, so let’s just post it on
the website”?
This case highlights that whatever we consult
on, it needs to be done correctly.
The other key factor was the legality of the
residence requirement itself. The judgement
reminds us of the legislation that provides
for the local council tax reduction schemes,
namely section 13(A) 2 Local Government Finance Act 1992:
“(2) Each billing authority in England must
make a scheme specifying the reductions
which are to apply to the amounts of
council tax payable, in respect of dwellings
situated in its area, by –
(a) persons whom the authority considers
to be in financial need, or
(b) persons in classes consisting of
persons whom the authority considers
to be, in general, in financial need.”
In this case, the inclusion of the residence
requirement was, as already mentioned, at the last
minute. In addition, the decision to adopt this as
an element appears to be based on a ‘feeling’
that the borough was in danger of being inundated
with economic migrants from the south east
moving to a cheaper area of the country.
The rights and wrongs of this can be debated,
but at the end of the day, to accept a ‘feeling’
without any evidence to support it is, as was
shown, a dangerous step to take.
Unfortunately for Sandwell, it could not link
the residence requirement to the legislation, in
Just how localis a local council tax reduction?
That was the question going through my mind
when I heard that Sandwell MBC had been
successfully challenged on its local council tax
reduction scheme, reported in R (Winders & Others) v Sandwell MBC.
However, on further reading it soon becomes
clear that even though local authorities appear
to have been given discretionary powers, they
still need to remember that even this can be
qualified, and that any use of these powers still
needs to consider the parameters within which
they are granted.
It may be a sad reflection on me, but I found the
judgement an interesting read, and easy to identify
the judge’s reasoning behind the judgement.
Before I read the judgement, my initial
thought was, “I bet they’ve been caught on the
consultation issue”, but that was only part of it.
The importance of a fair consultation is
clearly highlighted by Justice Higginbottom,
and referred to as the ‘Gunning Criteria’ from
R v Brent LBC ex parte Gunning (1985) to
be as follows:
a) consultation is undertaken at a time
when the relevant proposal is still at a
formative stage
b) adequate information is provided to
consultees to enable them properly to
respond to the consultation exercise
c) consultees are afforded adequate time in
which to respond; and
d) the decision-maker gives conscientious
consideration to consultees’ responses.
The circumstances of this particular case were
that although the consultation exercise was
conducted in good time during 2012, the telling
factor was that the issue of the ‘residence requirement’ was missing from the consultation,
and according to the judgement, only included at
the full council meeting in December 2012.
There were further problems with the
consultation exercise in 2013 for the 2013/14
scheme, which caused the judge to state that,
“These were insufficient attempts to elicit
particular when considering ‘financial need’ of
the claimants.
The judge found that, “On the true
construction of section 13A... the council has
no power to define a class for the purposes of
s13A (2) (b) by reference to non-financial need
criteria... and the imposition of the residence
requirement... was ultra vires and unlawful”.
Pretty conclusive stuff, especially when
you also consider that the judge found against
Sandwell on each count, including the scheme
being a barrier to freedom of movement
and discrimination.
To be fair to Sandwell, they weren’t the only
authority to adopt a residence requirement as
a component of its scheme – they were the
ones that were challenged. However, since this
judgement, the two other authorities that also
had a residence requirement have now dropped
this element from their schemes.
I have posed the question, “how local is a
local council tax reduction scheme?”, and I still
believe that the answer is “very” ! Nothing in
this judgement has convinced me that councils
don’t have the same powers that they had
before. What we have to remember is that
there are still parameters that we have to work
within. It has been pointed out through this case
that consideration of ‘financial need’ is still a
requirement, and that still gives all authorities an
element of freedom.
What is important in this case is that, despite
my initial thoughts that Sandwell had been
caught on the consultation argument, that was
indeed only part of it. Even if consultation had
not been found wanting, the case was also lost
on the legislative legitimacy of the scheme,
and reminds us of the fact that our decision
making must be based on solid foundations, i.e.
the law, and perhaps there is still a role for the
anorak wearer amongst us!
“It is easy to be critical, but how many of us have thought, “Not many people contribute to consultation papers, so let’s just post it on the website?”
Phil Adlard throws some light on a question that has challenged more than one local authority
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Universal Credit – research and repercussions We start this month with a brief look at some
recent reports from research sponsored by the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
To keep track of Universal Credit (UC) you
also need to know what is happening to the
benefits that are being absorbed into it, because
all that baggage is going to come across too –
there won’t be a clean slate.
There have been two relevant DWP research
reports recently. First, there was the monitoring
exercise concerning the cuts to rents eligible
for housing benefit (HB) in the private rented
sector since April 2011. For a summary, and/or
the full range of reports, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes.
Among the main conclusions were:
• there was some reduction in claimants’ rent,
but 89% of the impact fell on tenants through
reduced HB. Effects varied by household type
and region
• some people moved, especially within London,
but generally to neighbouring areas rather than
long distances
• claimants used various strategies to deal with the
shortfall, such as going without and getting into
debt (including, but not necessarily, rent arrears)
• Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) played
a very limited role compared with the scale of
the changes
• findings on employment status seemed to
reflect the ebb and flow of low-paid workers in
and out of work, more than a clear strategy to
escape the cuts
• landlords ceasing to let to HB claimants remains
a problem in many areas, especially London
• claimants subject to the shared accommodation
rate of HB seemed to be struggling to access
accommodation in the private rented sector.
Although HB/UC cannot meet any rent, however
high, we might conclude from these findings
that there is a need for these policies to be
revisited, this time in the context of tackling
poverty and promoting social inclusion. A
different approach is needed in time for UC.
The second report concerned the extension
of HB size restrictions to the social rented sector
– popularly known as the ‘bedroom tax’. For
a summary (including a reference to the full
report) see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/329949/rr882-evaluation-of-removal-of-the-spare-room-subsidy-summary.pdf.
Space precludes going into detail here,
but there were some strikingly similar
themes, including:
• the limited options to move
• the obstacles to employment as an escape route
• the range of strategies adopted by tenants to
deal with the shortfall
• the limited role of DHPs.
There seems to have been very little downsizing
– a reported 4.5% of affected claimants within
the social rented sector in the first six months
of implementation (plus 1.4% moving into the
private rented sector).
The mismatch between the size restrictions
and the make-up of the housing stock was
causing a number of problems in the housing as
well as the benefit field.
We might conclude that the case for a
reversal of this measure is very strong. At the
very least, there should be no question of
reducing benefit unless and until the appropriate
stock is shown to be actually available – that is,
a reasonable offer has been refused.
Meanwhile, in the private rented sector also, it is
arguable that a spare room for the occasional guest
should be seen as part of normal social interaction.
Out of work and out of luck?And now, we bring you news of a recent TUC
initiative. Although Ministerial and tabloid
rhetoric tries to form a distinction in the
public mind between benefit claimants and
‘hardworking families’, this is wrong on
at least two counts. Firstly, those in and out
of work are often the same people, taking
up insecure or short-term employment and
then losing it again. Secondly, many of those
receiving benefits are in work but on low
incomes. People with children and/or high
housing costs are especially likely to be entitled
to in-work benefits.
It is therefore unsurprising that the trade union
movement should take an interest in what is
happening to the benefit system. The Trades
Union Congress recently launched a campaign
called ‘Saving our Safety Net’. And the first issue
they have chosen to take up is the delay in getting
paid if you need to make a fresh claim for UC. As
the campaign press statement put it: “Currently
most newly unemployed people have to wait
two weeks to get their first benefit payment. But
under new UC rules people will not be eligible for
any help for a week and must then wait a further
month for their benefits to be paid in arrears.
This means that, other than the few who receive
emergency help, any new claimants will have to
wait at least five weeks.
”Worries about money are likely to distract new
claimants from looking for work, drive them into
the hands of payday loan lenders and increase
demand on food banks.”
If you would like to know more about this
campaign, go to http://savingoursafetynet.org/.
FeedbackMeanwhile, remember to send us your views:
• do you think that UC will be a better system? If
so, why?
• do you think there will be too many problems? If
so, what are they?
• give us your suggestion(s) for improving the
structure or administration of UC, with a brief
note of explanation. Convince us and we’ll put it
(or them) to politicians and officials and publish
the best ones here.
Let me know on [email protected].
“It is therefore unsurprising that the trade union movement should take an interest in what is happening to the benefit system.”
Geoff Fimister is a writer and consultant on
anti-poverty, housing and benefit issues
Credit notes
Geoff Fimister looks at some recent DWP-sponsored research and a new TUC campaign
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www.irrv.net/publications
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Passionate, enthusiastic anda workaholic
Later this month Kevin Stewart realises
one of his greatest ambitions, to become
President of the IRRV. However rewind
nearly 30 years and the picture looked very
different, as he thought his career prospects
were in ‘tatters’.
For back in 1985, Kevin had failed his
professional exams while working at Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council. However, David Tate, the new Borough
Treasurer, took Kevin to one side and told him
it was just a temporary setback
David is now retired but Kevin Stewart
has never forgotten how that expression of
support helped him to become an achiever;
as he says “with some luck but mostly
through enthusiasm, passion for my work and
motivation. I’m still in touch with David and I
owe him a huge debt of gratitude”.
“I always dreamed about becoming
President, but hardly dared to believe I could
make it happen,” he reflects, looking back on
a career that has taken him from his original
Norfolk job to his present position as Change
Leader within the Luton Excellence team at
Luton Borough Council via head of service
roles at Amber Valley and Bedford as well as
senior managerial positions at Watford and
Three Rivers and Central Bedfordshire local
authorities. He has also ‘visited the dark side’
as he puts it, tongue firmly in cheek, with
two years at the Audit Commission from
2009 – 2011 as a Benefits Performance
Specialist undertaking various roles including
audit and inspections as well as contributing
Cover story
Kevin Stewart FIRRV, MAAT, MCMI, is the new President of the IRRV anda man of change, writes Lester Dinnie
“Kevin is part of the Luton Excellence Team and is working on delivering key change programmes for Revenues. In particular, the internalisation of enforcement agents. He brings a vast depth of knowledge, that goes without saying but it is his drive and passion to deliver the project that is truly infectious. I am delighted to be working alongside him.”Clive JonesRevenues and Commercial Services ManagerRevenues Team, Luton Borough Council
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Cover story
Roseanne, a 13 year old son Ben and
lives with his par tner Elizabeth Green in a
delight ful par t of Bedfordshire, where he
seems a well-known figure. A preliminary
interview for Insight conducted in a local
cof fee shop cannot be completed without
acknowledgements from both customers
and staf f.
Clearly well settled domestically, he is in
no mood to become a sedentary figure in
his work. “I’m a man of change”, he says,
“in fact my current job title might have been
written by me and others who know me have
commented on this too.”
Does this suggest that the IRRV might be in
for a revolution?
“The IRRV is much, much bigger than
any one individual or group of individuals”
he replies. “We are well-served by our Past
Presidents, our staff and committees – in
particular I have enormous respect for the
to national reports.
Will this rich and varied experience
help in his role as IRRV President? He
believes the answer is a firm ‘yes’. “I’ve
had experience of both revenues and
benefits, in addition to working from the
outside of local authorities doing audit
and performance reviews. I think this will
help me to understand viewpoints from
across the Institute. Although I’m still
officially a member of the East Midlands
IRRV Association, where I was President
in 2005-06, I’ve also spent time in very
different parts of the country so I have seen
the challenges we face in a number of
environments. I’m used to the job of being
a change leader too – and I like to think
that I lead by example rather than from afar
– I believe in involvement, team-working
and engagement.”
Proof of this can also be found in Kevin
Stewart ’s life outside his job and the IRRV,
particularly with his impressive track record
of volunteering in major sports events,
including the 2012 London Paralympics,
the 2013 UEFA Championship final,
Sports Relief in 2014, the 2014 Tour De France and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
His par ticipation is par tly due to a sense
of community and par tly, as he readily
admits, having the chance to savour
the top level of spor t in a way that ’s
impossible for a keen sports fan with
only modest ability. “As a goalkeeper I
developed a back problem through picking
the ball out of the back of the net”, he
jokes, “so I took up refereeing and got to a
very decent standard. Compared to getting
access to Paralympic finals, being part of
the army of volunteers and a flag-carrier
around the stadium track at the opening
ceremony dress rehearsals, however,
there’s no contest! ”
Kevin Stewart has a 26 year old daughter
likes of David Magor, Richard Harbord, Barry
Wheeler and Pat Doherty, all of whom have
helped, advised and encouraged me. We
do face immense challenges as restrictions
on local authority budgets put pressure on
our membership and our events, so I think
we must have an agenda to modernise that
encourages a higher profile. We also need
renewed energy for some of the aspects of
our work where I have particular affinities,
such as education, communications,
membership and commercial activities.”
He points to recent ministerial comments
about the local government environment ,
changes in legislation, for example in the
enforcement sector, the vote on Scottish Independence and of course Universal Credit, as examples of the dynamic nature
of the IRRV’s remit. His view is that the
Institute can and should be a more prominent
canvasser for its members’ interests across
the spectrum of local government.
“No other organisation deals with this
niche market and we need to be heard
because it’s our members who have the
expertise in the sector.”
Currently Kevin Stewart is helping to ‘get
the Institute’s voice heard’ as Chair of the
Education and Membership Committee
and Council Lead on Communications,
(Managing Editor notes, that includes Insight!).
He is a fellow of the IRRV in addition to
being a qualified member of the Chartered Management Institute and the
“In his time as a manager at King’s Lynn Kevin was always incredibly enthusiastic about local taxation and supportive of his staff, something I believe he carries through to this day and will see him well through his year as IRRV President.”Jo StantonRevenues and Benefits Manager Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
“ I have never met anyone as hard working and passionate about their work as Kevin is. Having known him for 15 years I can categorically say his jokes are still appalling, but his hard work, determination and love of the sector has never changed. Well done Kev!”Joy BurtonBusiness Consultant, Capita Software Services
Kevin with Kathryn Ellis, immediate Past President of the IRRV East Midlands Association,wearing their chains of office
Kevin with his partner Elizabeth Green
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Association of Accounting Technicians.
All in all, it ’s a handy set of qualifications
when it comes to matters of revenues and benefits, but there’s a hidden talent
too – a ‘photographic’ memory for numbers,
times and dates which he demonstrates by
responding to a challenging question about
the result of a long forgotten European
Championships football match. Not only
does he remember the score, he reels off
the sequence of the goals, the names of the
scorers and the times of every goal!!
In his career Kevin Stewart has had the
resource and determination to overcome
obstacles – his belief that with growing
experience and the right approach it ’s
possible to achieve your ambitions has not
been simply a straight line progression from
point A to point B. Apart from the early
setback of his exam hiccup he recalls his
50th bir thday during the course of which, at
a benefits inspection on behalf of the Audit Commission, in deepest Sussex he was
interrupted at precisely 10.46 to be told that
the organisation was folding. Hardly a natural
career enhancement.
In his current role at Luton, however, he is
finding a harmonious match between his work
and his Institute – “Disappointments are not
allowed to throw the train off track, they are
merely temporary delays that have inspired
and motivated me more.”
“In my life”, he concludes, “I’ve had so
much help and motivation from colleagues
and I like to think that I can now pass that
along to others. Apart from those I’ve already
talked about I do want to mention colleagues
without whose massive support I would not
have attained the goals that I have. Whilst
there are too many to mention all by name
there are some I would like to single out.
Tracy Summers and Neil Bradbury at Amber
Valley, Joanne Stanton at Kings Lynn and West
Norfolk and Joy Burton who is now at Capita
Software Services. Fraser MacPherson in
Scotland is someone I admire
for his enthusiasm, dedication
and amazing organisational
skills and John Roberts for his
great work on Insight.”
(Managing Editor’s note – I like it!)
Long-term, Kevin Stewart
is looking forward to further
challenges and changes,
becoming a fully qualified
accountant is on his
priority list as well as more
volunteering but before that
he is relishing a year of hard
work and frenetic activity as
President of the IRRV with
membership, education,
commercial income and
profile on his list of priorities.
For a ‘man of change’ there
is no shortage of agenda
items and he intends to hit
the ground running with his
normal enthusiasm.
Lester Dinnie is
Managing Director of
Tregartha Dinnie Limited
“If you work hard in the public sector then you will succeed in the private sector by applying that same work ethos, which brings me on to Kevin Stewart. I am so pleased that he now has his turn as National President of the IRRV and know how much that means to him. Good luck Kevin, I know you’ll do us proud.”Craig GeensService Solution Lead – Collections and Assessments Public Sector, arvato UK
The car was Kevin’s home for nearly 3 weeks as he was a Paralympic Family Assistant to the Malaysian delegation
Gamesmaker at the London 2012 Paralympics in theOlympic Stadium
Volunteer for the EUFA Champions League Final at Wembley in May 2013 with a replica of the trophy
Volunteer at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Duncan Baxter IRRV (Hons) is Director
of Destin Solutions Limited22
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Back office processing
may again result in increased charges and
raising charges earlier
• check the attachments that are in place.
Ensure that payments are received regularly
from both employers and the DWP. It is
pointless having a case sat at these stages
if the person no longer works/claims. Whilst
you would expect to be notified of such
a change, it is not always the case, and
accounts can go un-noticed way after the
circumstances have changed
• badger your collection agents to hand over
the payments, and ask questions on the
cases that never seem to move on
• look into the other debt systems maintained
by the authority, and establish where
joint action could be taken to recover the
combined sums due. It seems standard
practice to pursue debts individually, but why
should this be the case?
• and finally, look out for those cases that may
soon be irrecoverable due to the provisions
of the Limitation Act – you may think this
doesn’t happen, but I can assure you it does!
So to get this into context let’s put some
figures around this. If an authority with a
collectable debt of £50,000,000 for 50,000
hereditaments collects just £1 extra per
account, this would see an increase of
£50,000 per annum, or a 0.1% increase in
the collection level. Not a huge task when you
look at it this way. I believe that unlocking the data in your systems will certainly enable
you to see things in a different light and go
some way to achieve the ‘nudge factor’ I
referred to earlier.
To see how Destin Solutions can help you
achieve all this, please visit our stand at the
IRRV Annual Conference, or contact me on
As a work colleague of mine regularly quotes,
collection is now about the ‘nudge factor ’
– a strange statement? Well no, not really.
Collection levels seem to be continually
rising, the expected major drop in collection
levels following the introduction of council tax
support seems to either have not materialised
or the levels are gradually returning to normal,
yet there are still steps I believe that can be
taken to ‘nudge up’ collection.
In order to do this, revenues departments
will need to tackle the tasks/items that
become lost amongst the daily tasks required
to keep the service ticking along. You need
to look deep into your core systems, and
extract the information that is sitting there
just wanting to tell you all about itself. There
are countless examples of areas that can be
looked at. Below are just a few:
• review the ‘stop codes’/diary dates (call
them what you want!) that are set so far in
the future. Can the circumstances that gave
rise to the block really exist for that long? A
far more sensible approach is to limit the
maximum duration, which in turn will force
the user to review the case and question why
the stop was put on in the first place
• discounts and disregards are so often
applied and left to run without any further
questions asked. Again, a regular review of
those miscellaneous disregards (apprentices,
carers, dare I say disabled reductions?) may
lead to the removal of the reduction and
extra income for the authority
• keeping a closer eye on the larger new
developments that seem to be popping
out from any unused land can again pay
dividends. It is all too easy for an occupier/
builder to say that they have ‘just moved in’
when the Inspector calls, or in some cases
never calls. So picking up these cases earlier
“You need to look deep into your core systems, and extract the information that is sitting there just wanting to tell you all about itself.”
Duncan Baxter dishes out some handy tips for nudging your collection rates higher
Look deepinto yourcore systems
Collection & enforcement
Is video badge technology the way forward?
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Many organisations in the enforcement
industry have recently started using and
promoting video badge technology to
deliver transparency and auditability
of interactions with debtors. Video badge
technology is not new, having been
introduced in other markets in 2002.
We believe that real innovation is what
case dynamics has achieved through the
AR-12 Audit solution for our company,
which has been designed from the ground
up for specific use in enforcement. The
AR-12 Audit element of the smartphone
application is embedded as par t of the
overall case management solution. For an
enforcement agent to visit a debtor’s address
they must activate the case on their
smartphone to see the debtor’s details and
characteristics. Once the case is activated,
audio recording commences. The
recording continues until the case is closed
and the enforcement agent has lef t the
debtor’s address. The real icing on the cake
is that the recording of the entire interaction
between the debtor and enforcement
agent is then immediately and securely uploaded to the main case management
system. This is a completely dif ferent and
more compliant approach to video badge
technology, where the enforcement agent
is in control of the star t and end times of
the recording, and is required to upload the
recording at a later stage.
The approach allows the audit and
compliance function to review the visit for
compliance within minutes of the debtor
being visited. 100% of visits that result
in contact with a debtor are listened to
the same day for a number of quality and
compliance measures, including data protection, national standards and client specific instructions. Compliance failures
and learning opportunities are escalated
immediately, with breaches of compliance
leading to the smartphone application
being disabled and the enforcement agent
contacted. No other audit solution allows this
type of proactive and complete compliance
monitoring of field based enforcement staff.
Since the solution was implemented there has
been a significant reduction in complaints.
These are a few of the questions we
asked ourselves to determine why visit voice
recording was better than video:
1. Should an enforcement agent be able
to control the start and finish time of
the recording, or does this open up the
possibility of complaints from debtors, who
may say that additional interaction took
place outside the recording timeframe?
2. Is it appropriate to film inside a debtor’s
house if the situation is unsuitable, e.g. if
children are present?
3. If a situation occurred where an
enforcement agent filmed a minor, how
would we be aware of the footage, and
what measures would be in place to ensure
the footage was deleted completely?
4. If we were to ask the enforcement agent
to send the footage to us on a weekly or
monthly basis, would we be in a position
to watch all the footage, and if so how
long would it take? Maybe reviewing all
footage would be a task too big, and only
viewing footage that causes a complaint is
the answer. If so, how would this help us
improve and make changes to processes
before a complaint arises?
5. If an enforcement agent is filming their
interaction and the debtor uses a credit
card to make payment, the card and the
process of taking payment would be video
recorded. The credit card number and
even the debtor’s pin number may be
viewed. This is a breach of PCI compliance.
How would we fix this? Maybe we could
ask the enforcement agent to stop
recording at this point, but that would
surely defeat the reason for recording the
visit in the first place.
Our view is that video recording is best
in certain sectors, for example where you
are not within someone’s personal home,
and not dealing with sensitive protected
information like bank details and pin numbers. The use of video recording in the
enforcement sector has not been considered
enough, with the questions above offering
some food for thought.
“Compliance failures and learning opportunities are escalated immediately, with breaches of compliance leading to the smartphone application being disabled and the enforcement agent contacted.”
Jamie Waller is CEO of JBW Group. You can
contact JBW on [email protected]
Jamie Waller explains the use of voice instead of video technology
Look deepinto yourcore systems
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International perspective
the key aspects of property tax systems
issues, including the tax base, tax rate, tax
relief policy considerations, along with the
legislative framework for property tax. Given
the present situation with regard to policy
for both business rates and council tax in the
UK, I think there is need for
a similar workshop for policy
makers over here!
The second workshop
dealt with ‘Mass Appraisal
– Theory and Practice’. This
workshop was, effectively,
an introductory course
which focused on basic
theory, statistical measures,
advancements in technology,
valuation model building
and testing, quality control,
and correlation of values.
The presenters worked
through the model building process using
practical examples, and the event was well
received by delegates. Many people in the
UK think that ‘mass appraisal ’ means that
the process is entirely computer produced,
and is not what we do over here, but that is
incorrect. Whenever the VOA in England and
Wales, the Assessors in Scotland or LPS in
Northern Ireland undertake a revaluation, it
involves the ‘mass appraisal’ of the properties
concerned. Inevitably, there
is increasing reliance on
computers to support the
process, but mass appraisal
itself does not, automatically,
mean the valuations are
computer produced.
We then moved on to
the USA and ran a more
advanced two day seminar in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida on
the subject of ‘Introduction
to Regression and Spatial
Analysis used in Mass
Land and property taxation is alive and well worldwide I must start this article with a reference to the
IRRV Presidents’ Lunch. Although this was
not, strictly, an international event, it was very
enjoyable, and I would like to thank Institute
President Richard Harbord and Chief
Executive David Magor for inviting me.
The first professional event I would like to
mention is the Landmark-IPTI Rating Conference, which was held at the Royal
College of Surgeons in London. This was
the first event of its kind in the UK, and I am
very grateful to David Holgate QC and his
colleagues from Landmark Chambers, who
turned out in strength to make this a really
interesting and valuable conference. The
leading barristers – who have dealt with many
of the most important litigation concerning
business rates – gave their insights into recent
cases and other legal issues. I should add
that we also had very good support from the
Rating Surveyors’ Association, whose
President, Andrew Hetherton, spoke about
the many current developments in business
rates. We had some very positive feedback
from delegates, and plan to run this event on
an annual basis in future.
Then across the pond to Canada, where
we ran two workshops in Toronto – the
first one on the subject of ‘Property Tax
Policy’. This workshop looked at some of
Appraisal’. This seminar looked at the basics
of market analysis, a review of linear and multiplicative regression, location value response surfaces, and working with market
models using non-linear regression and spatial analysis. Staying with the ‘cutting
edge’ of mass appraisal, IPTI has recently
published a new book called ‘Improving Mass
Appraisal Valuation Models Using Spatio-
Temporal Methods’. Written by Rich Borst, Ph.D, a renowned international expert in this
field, the book explains the latest techniques
in the use of geostatistics and geographically
weighted regression in the context of
computer assisted mass appraisal.
Then back to Canada where we ran two
one day workshops in conjunction with the
Alberta Assessors’ Association, who were
holding their 54th Annual Conference in Red
Deer, Alberta. One of our workshops looked at
‘Sales Comparison and the Analysis of Sales
Data’ and the other was concerned with the
‘Valuation of Land’, and covered the valuation
of commercial, industrial and high density
residential land, which can be a challenging
exercise given the limited availability of sales
or other evidence.
We then moved back to Europe where we
held a meeting in Amsterdam organised by
the European Chapter of IPTI’s Corporate Advisory Committee. This meeting included
...as IPTI’s PaulSanderson explains
Amsterdam
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a number of presentations, one of which
involved a speaker from the OECD, who
explained that property taxes were becoming
a more important issue for that organisation.
We also had a very interesting presentation on
the property tax system in the Netherlands,
which seems to be very sophisticated.
Following this meeting, IPTI was invited to
hold another event in Amsterdam, and it looks
as if we will be running one of our annual
conferences there in June next year. I hope
IRRV members will be involved in that event.
Talking of Europe, the United Kingdom
has the highest level of tax on immovable
property as a share of country GDP in the
European Union. This has been confirmed
in the latest figures available. According to
Eurostat’s annual analysis of the Union’s
taxation trends, property tax in the UK
amounted to 4.1 % of GDP in 2012, the most
recent year the data is available, against an
average of 2.3 % across the bloc. The majority
of property tax is in the form of recurrent
taxes, which are typically paid annually and
linked to some measure of the value of the
property. In the UK, 3.4 % of the total 4.1 %
for 2012 is in the form of recurrent taxation.
The remaining 0.7 % is classified as ‘other
property taxes’ which include property
transfers and transactions. The UK has the
highest reliance on immovable property taxes
from the OECD-10, with the United States and
Canada following. It also outranks all other
countries in terms of the total percentage
of property tax as a share of total taxation,
despite a decrease since 2008. Property taxes
in total made up 11.7 % of total tax in the UK,
with the government raising almost £64 billion
from these taxes.
Back to North America again, where IPTI
held its annual Mass Appraisal Valuation Symposium (MAVS) in Calgary, Alberta. The
MAVS, which was titled ‘Ensuring Valuation
Consistency in Turbulent Times’, was very
successful with speakers from around the
world talking about their experience of how
property tax systems coped with either
economic fluctuations and/or major disasters,
including earthquakes (New Zealand),
bushfires (Australia) and flooding (Canada).
We also had presentations at MAVS updating
delegates with developments in the use of
information technology, quality assurance,
valuation standards, training and education,
the role of the expert witness in assessment
appeals, and the valuation of specialized
properties along with reports from as far afield
as Russia, South Africa and Hong Kong.
I should add that I arrived in Calgary via a road
trip across the Canadian Rockies. This involved
a flight to Vancouver, a visit via float plane to
Victoria on Vancouver Island, then a long drive
over several days to Whistler, Lake Louise,
Jasper and Banff. Spectacular mountains,
lakes, glaciers and lots of wildlife, including a
close encounter with a large grizzly bear, made
this a great journey.
Then off to Niagara Falls, where IPTI was
involved in the annual conference run by the
Institute of Municipal Assessors (IMA)
in conjunction with their annual conference.
I was speaking at the main conference, and
in a workshop we ran at the event dealing
“Many people in the UK think that ‘mass appraisal’ means that the process is entirely computer produced, and is not what we do over here, but that
is incorrect.”
“According to Eurostat’s annual analysis of the Union’s taxation trends, property tax in the UK amounted to 4.1 % of
GDP in 2012, the most recent year the data is available, against an average of 2.3 % across the bloc.”
Paul Sanderson is President of the
International Property Tax Institute
with ‘Assessment Appeals Preparation’.
However, my favourite part of the event was
another workshop I was invited to speak at
which concerned ‘The Valuation of Historic
Properties’ – in addition to a presentation
about how we deal with the valuation of
historic properties in the UK (including
Stonehenge, the Tower of London and
similar buildings), this involved a walking
tour of old properties in Niagara-on-the-Lake,
which is a very picturesque location.
The other part of this conference which
was particularly interesting for me was the
publication of the new IMA ‘Code of Ethics and Professional Standards’. I had been
involved in the development of this document,
as IPTI had been commissioned by the IMA to
review existing professional standards around
the world, and advise on what was needed
for ‘assessment professionals’ involved in
property tax work. I think there is a need for
something similar here in the UK, and I will be
talking to IRRV and other colleagues about it.
Looking ahead, IPTI will be involved with
the Canadian Osgoode Hall Law School in delivering a three day training course on
report writing for valuation disputes.
We are holding a professional meeting in
conjunction with the Commonwealth Heads of Valuation Agencies (CHOVA)
conference in Toronto. I will also be making
various presentations at the IAAO annual
conference in Sacramento, California and
we are holding conferences in Barbados in
October and Australia in November. So, lots
happening on the international front, and I will
let you know more in my next article.
The large grizzly bear!
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T: 020 7691 8987
IRRV Professional Meetings
www.irrv.net/conferences
Completion Notices NEW DATES CONFIRMED
11 November — London • 13 November — Bradford • 8 December — London • 10 December — Manchester • 13 January (2015) — Hinckley
This Professional Meeting is aimed at those working within both Local Government and the Private Sector. It will focus on the importance of serving completion notices for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rate, when (and when not) they are served, how they are served and the options then available to the owner, billing authority and valuation / listing officer. There will be an Open Forum in the afternoon where delegates can raise issues with the speakers.
This meeting will be delivered by Gary Watson, Deputy Chief Executive, IRRV and Gordon McKay, Local Authority Relationship Manager, VOA. There will also be a Specialist Advisor from the VOA at each of the professional meetings.
Please visit our website to book your place.
Fees:
IRRV Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £135 plus VATBAS/Forum/Organisational Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £165 plus VATNon Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £195 plus VAT
Special Offer: 3 for 2 on multiple bookings* * Delegates must be from the same organisation in order to receive this offer.
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I’m not one to complain, but...Benefits and taxation saw the biggest
increase in complaints that we received
in 2013/14 and, according to our local
government complaints review which
we published in July, also saw the
biggest proportion of investigated
complaints upheld.
There could be any number of
reasons to explain the increase in
benefit and taxation complaint numbers
– the introduction of council tax reduction
schemes, reductions in discounts and
exemptions, and increasing pressure
on resources leading to more hard line
recovery action could be easy explanations.
But we have no direct evidence to say
that there is a definite link between these
changes and an increase in complaints. I
also wonder what is happening at the local
authority level – have you seen a similar
increase in complaints, and if so can you
identify any reasons for this?
Unsurprisingly, London boroughs
and metropolitan authorities produced
the most benefit and tax complaints.
But, if you remove all the authorities with
fewer than ten complaints from our results
tables, and then take those remaining benefits
complaints as a percentage of all complaints
we received, local taxation concerns accounted
for more than 30% of the complaints for
43 authorities.
What might be more of a surprise is that,
of those authorities, only one was a London
borough and only one was a metropolitan
authority – the rest were district or borough
councils. As there may be specific local
reasons why any authority may have a high
proportion of benefit complaints, rather than
naming and shaming, I shall leave you to
download the data from our website, do your
own number crunching, and see if you are
one of these councils. Nevertheless, it is
interesting to note that, at least for this subject
area, ‘small’ does not necessarily mean
‘well administered’.Perhaps more significantly, we uphold very
nearly half (49%) of all benefit and taxation
complaints we investigate in detail. Remember,
these complaints will have already gone
through a council’s own complaint process and
were not upheld, and yet when we took an
independent look we upheld the complaint.
It is difficult to say exactly why this happens,
as each case is different, but some common
faults include not notifying people of their
appeal rights, administrative errors around
payments, not exercising discretion or taking a
fixed view, and a failure to follow policies.
We see cases where the ‘complaint’ is really a dispute over council tax liability, yet
at no point does the council clearly tell the
person of their right to take the matter to the
Valuation Tribunal. The problem can be
even worse when someone asks a council to
exercise its discretion, only to be told there
is no discretion, thereby ignoring Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
In our complaint review, we refer to the case
of Bernard. He contacted the council to ask if it
could reduce the amount of council tax he was
paying because of his personal circumstances.
Officers told him that the council had no
discretion to reduce it on an individual basis.
During our investigation the council told us
that it does in fact have a scheme offering
discretionary reductions, but said that Bernard
would not qualify. The council decided in
advance that it would automatically refuse an
individual application where it did not fall into
a set class of criteria, thereby fettering its
own discretion.
As a result of our investigation, the
council agreed to invite Bernard to make an
application for a discretionary reduction in
his council tax bill, and consider it from the
date at which he first asked the council for
help. We asked the council to make a decision
within two months and provide Bernard with
the reasons for its decision in writing, so that
he has the option to appeal to the Valuation
Tribunal if his application was unsuccessful.
Of course as there is a right of appeal over
a Section 13A(1)(c) decision, we would not
look at the actual decision a council made. But
a council must first make a proper decision,
notify the applicant, and tell them how to
appeal. If councils do this, that will be one area
of complaints we should not see in future!
“What might be more of a surprise is that, of those authorities, only one was a London borough and only one was a metropolitan authority – the rest were district or borough councils.”
LGO update
Andrew Hobley and his colleagues discover a significant increase in complaints, and suggest a few hints on a future reduction in numbers
Andrew Hobley is Assessment Team Leader
with the Local Government Ombudsman
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“Mobile is fast becoming the default option for accessing the internet”. No not
my words, but the words of the government in
its 2014 Digital Inclusion Strategy.
What it means to be ‘online’ is changing
fast. As recently as four years ago, virtually all
internet use was via a browser on a PC. With
the rise of smartphones and tablets there is a
rapidly changing pattern of consumption.
Recent market intelligence reports that
tablets will outsell PCs by 2015. Although
overall the tablet market’s growth rate is
slowing, PC sales are declining even more. Just
to show how fast the market is moving, at the
Institute’s Welfare Reform and Benefits Conference this year I reported that the latest
figures showed that tablets would outstrip PCs
by 2017. This has moved forward two years in
a matter of months!
In January of his year, Apple announced
that sales of Apple Macs were down 22%,
but sales of iPads had risen by 48%. By 2016,
there will be more than 1.5 billion smartphone
units globally, compared to 350 million PCs.
We are seeing the PC market reduction
directly tied to the shrinking installation of
base PCs as inexpensive tablets displace
low-end machines. In emerging markets,
inexpensive tablets have become the first
computing device for many people, rather than
actually purchasing a PC.
The issue is cost, in that tablets and
smartphones are already relatively cheap
– basic smartphones retail (even without a
mobile plan) for £50 or less and tablets with
3/4G are available for £190. Computers are
generally more expensive. In addition, for
customers taking wireless data plans, mobile
devices may be included at no extra cost.
Tablets are also there for the digitally
reluctant, i.e. those people who don’t want go
to a library or council provided internet access
point. They are also technically robust and
are easy to use – no need to worry about 2
gigabyte updates to download from Microsoft
every few weeks, or scary news stories about
the latest virus!
So tablets are cheap, reliable and available,
but is there training available?
Unfortunately, most digital inclusion
initiatives in the UK are still based on fixed
terminals. That said, some organisations active
in the sector have recognised the potential
of mobile services, and are beginning to
incorporate training into their programmes.
‘Go On UK’ feel that the spread of
mobiles offers significant opportunities for
strengthening digital inclusion, because,
for example:
• many of the people who need to be reached
are unlikely to attend online centres. One-
to-one peer support in their own homes (or
other mutually convenient locations) will be
much more effective, and this is most easily
achieved using mobile equipment
• there is a significant subset of offline people
for whom using a mobile or tablet is more
socially acceptable than using a PC would
be. For some, PCs carry negative ‘typist’ connotations, whereas mobiles are known to
be currently fashionable
• digital skills may well be passed on
incidentally, at gatherings dealing with
entirely other topics (say, family history
or energy efficiency), or in a purely social
context. If people have their own mobiles
with them, they can learn a lot from being
with others in this way.
“The problem with this is that it is another site to maintain, when it’s often hard enough keeping one site up to date. There may also be a different web address for the mobile site.”
Simon Bailey’s firm view is that it’s time for public service to go mobile to keep ahead
Makingit mobile
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But are local authorities embracing the mobile
world? It would seem the majority are not.
Testing of a council website experience from
mobile devices became, for the first time, an
integral part of the Society of Information Technology Management (SoCITM) Better Connected 2014 survey. Their report found
that many local authority websites were not
mobile friendly, with only 67 passing the
SoCITM standard.
The SoCITM standard requires that:
• the ‘top task’ standard has been met with
ease of use rated very good
• general information accessible on the mobile
device is good
• the mobile-readiness of the site is rated
satisfactory or very good.
SoCITM found that 31% of visits to council
websites in 2013 were made on mobile
devices (tablets as well as smartphones).
With numbers spiking during bad weather
in December when 37% of visits were
from mobiles.
Is the problem for local authorities the
speed of changing technology and the fact
that they are always playing catch up? As I
mentioned earlier, smartphones and tablets
have only been around for the last four
years, and updating or replacing content
management systems on which websites are
run can take years.
The issue is that the website must recognise
that it is being visited by a specific mobile
device and act accordingly. There are currently
three options in handling mobile visitors.
Firstly, an authority could introduce a
separate dedicated mobile site which is quick
and easy to set up and does not require an
app. The problem with this is that it is another
site to maintain, when it ’s often hard enough
keeping one site up to date. There may also
be a different web address for the mobile site.
Secondly, a mobile version of the main site
(i.e. keeping the same web address) could be
set up. This often calls for complex software,
but this option is becoming more mainstream,
and has been adopted by GOV.UK.
Thirdly, an authority could provide an ‘app’
for specific purposes. ‘Native’ apps must
be downloaded from the app store of the
software provider, be that Apple, Android,
Blackberry or Windows. The beauty of apps
is that they can use functions within the
mobile product, such as location, the camera,
texting or making a telephone call. More and
more authorities are using apps, especially
around services such as ‘find my nearest ’. The drawbacks are that any app has to be
approved by the app store on which it is
hosted – they are expensive to maintain,
and many apps that are downloaded are
infrequently used.
Interestingly the Government Digital Service (GDS) has taken a stance that native
apps are rarely justified. The GDS recognises
that we are in the middle of a significant
change as to how people use digital services,
and that the use of mobile devices such as
smartphones and tablets is exploding. The
GDS understands that people should be able
to use digital services wherever they are, on
the device of their choosing.
However, when it comes to mobile
devices, the GDS are backing open web
standards (HTML5). They are confident that
for government services, the mobile web
Simon Bailey IRRV (Hons) is a Director of
ISCAS – contact him on [email protected]
(www.iscas.co.uk)
is a winner, both from a user and a cost
perspective. Apps may be transforming gaming
and social media, but for public services,
the ‘making your website adapt really effectively to a range of devices’ approach
is currently the better strategy.
The GDS do not ban apps outright. For
example, the NHS-funded Change4Life healthy lifestyle app relies on a persistent
24/7 presence on users’ mobiles to try to
persuade people to eat and drink more healthily.
Finally the following is a quote from the blog
of Helen Miner, who is Chief Executive Officer
of the Tinder Foundation (a not for profit
organisation that makes good things happen
with digital technology): “...the instinctive
feeling that I have is that smartphones
and tablets are a game changer for digital
inclusion ...mobile technology isn’t the silver
bullet just yet but there are some pretty good
things about it ...In time, all of our courses will
not only be mobile friendly, but will support
people to use mobile technologies to make
the most of the online world.
“What mobile definitely does represent is a
great opportunity, allowing us to reach whole
new audiences who cannot – or do not want
to – benefit from fixed broadband and who
find the whole ‘keyboard and mouse’ thing
clunky and not useful...”
I think Helen’s thoughts sum up the whole
mobile issue, and local authorities need to
adapt to the changing landscape. We will need
to see what the next four years bring.
“Apps may be transforming gaming and social media, but for public services, the “making your website adapt really effectively to a range of devices” approach is currently the better strategy.”
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Technology
The move away from traditional service
provision is a key focus for local authorities,
as they look for creative ways to face down
challenging budget cuts. This article explains
how local authorities are already using online
and mobile apps to transform service delivery,
build resilience around front line services, and
considers how wider channel shift could help
drive further efficiencies across departments.
Shifting up a gear
Local authorities continue to grapple with
a future shrouded with uncertainty. In the
face of challenging budgets and the need to
make substantial savings, the task remains to
offer improved services, cope with increasing
demand, and yet still be able to engage with
people. The fact is, many local authorities
have already made the obvious cutbacks, and
are having to look at what else they can do to
make sure they find the right balance to meet
these challenges both now and in the future.
Online and mobile apps are becoming ever
more relevant for local authorities. Recent
research* has found support for councils
shifting their communications channels online,
with 52% of voters saying they would favour
this move if the resulting savings could be
used to fund other services.
One council that has fully embraced channel
shift is Spelthorne Borough Council. Last year it assessed the costs involved of
delivering services to citizens through its
existing communication channels, and the
volume of enquiries it received via these. It
soon identified that there had been an 8%
increase in call volumes year-on-year into
its call centre. The forecast was that in order
to cope with growing demand, one full time
employee would be needed each year to be
able to handle the rise in the number of calls.
This would equate to an additional yearly
expense of £26,000.
Linda Norman, head of customer services
at Spelthorne Borough Council, explains,
“As part of our ‘Enhancing the Customer Experience’ programme, we knew we had to
make our services more modern, efficient and
accessible to citizens. In order to achieve this,
it became apparent that we needed a mobile
app that, along with our website, would allow
citizens to access our services more easily and
at times that suited them.
“We want our citizens to be able to do as
much as possible through our website or
via the app. Encouraging more self-service
frees up our employees to allow them to help
our citizens who need us to deal with more
complex queries.”
The council identified the need for
additional expertise in order to be able to
bring about the first steps of channel shift.
Working in partnership with Capita to deliver
the council’s new app, this new service was
brought to residents within six weeks. The
app, which is powered by Capita’s Engage platform, offers residents the ability to
interact with the council at times that suit
them, and in a way that an increasing number
of residents want to access information and
services. Whether it ’s a faulty street light or a
pothole, people can report issues directly to
the council. Importantly, this works both ways,
and the app allows the council to engage
directly with its citizens to inform them of
local issues, such as weather warnings and
road closures.
The app sits alongside the council’s existing
resident contact channels, and can easily be
reconfigured by them to place emphasis on
current service hot-spots. These services could
include council tax payments, garden waste, or
school closures, making it a tool for now and
for years to come.
The app is designed to alleviate pressure
on council staff, by providing high volume and
low complexity services to citizens. This leaves
staff free to deal with more time consuming
and difficult queries, such as complex
adult social care issues, and sensitive and
confidential case work.
By freeing up council staff time, and
automating processes which had historically
taken up significant resources, the app is
also helping Spelthorne Borough Council to
reduce costs.
Since making services and local information
available through the Engage platform, the
council has seen an array of tangible benefits.
These include:
• a 10% reduction in calls to the customer
“Many local authorities have already made the obvious cutbacks, and are having to look at what else they can do to make sure they find the right balance to meet these challenges both now and in the future.”
Channel shift is arriving at the forefront of local authority deliveryVanessa Parfitt discovers
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services contact centre, month on month
• a decline in the time spent by the council
processing information as the app allows
automated updates
• payment alerts are automatically sent out
for council tax
• an increase of 18% in internet payments
compared with 2012/13 for council tax
• the salary budget has been reduced to
reflect the staff savings, which equate to
approximately 7% of staffing budget for
2014/15
• savings have been delivered in the region of
£33,000 for 2013/14, with a reduction of
1.4 full-time employees in the call centre for
2014/15, and it is expected that this
will continue.
Linda Norman says, “Spelthorne Borough
Council has a target of making further savings
by 2016, and it sees channel shift as an
important step to improving customer service
and hitting this target.”
The next steps for local authoritiesSo what happens once services have been
moved online and made accessible through
mobile apps? In order for local authorities to
reap the full benefits of channel shift in terms
of savings and service improvements, they
must seek to fully integrate it with their back
office system. To achieve full channel shift,
there has to be full integration and limited
manual intervention – the process from initial
query to resolution has to be a seamless
one. Often, channel shift has happened at a
superficial level, and is not fully integrated with
the back office.
Spelthorne Borough Council has realised
the full advantages to full system integration,
as Linda Norman continues, “The best way
to encourage channel shift is to make online
and mobile apps the easiest avenues for
customers to take. If these channels of
communication are easy to use and there
“Many local authorities are already looking towards channel shift, but may feel that their legacy systems would be too difficult to integrate, or fear the costs of IT investment will be too high.”
Vanessa Parfitt is Product Launch Manager
at Capita’s software services business. You can
contact her on [email protected]
is an automated acknowledgement, citizens
will have no need to phone the council.
With services such as benefit and discount
requests, to changes of address forms all
going straight through to our back office,
staff are not required to rekey any information
into our back office system – removing
any duplication.”
Many local authorities are already looking
towards channel shift, but may feel that their
legacy systems would be too difficult to
integrate, or fear the costs of IT investment
will be too high. While integration remains
a significant investment, developments in
technology make it now possible to achieve
this in a cost-effective way.
Solutions are now available which can be
used to apply a layer of glue between systems
to join up all the processes. These solutions
are able to integrate with multiple systems,
providing a seamless connection in a cost-
effective way. Such products are designed
specifically to create links between back office
systems, taking data from, or pushing data
to, each system as needed. The software
acts like building blocks, which, while being
largely off the shelf, can be built up to suit
each individual organisation’s needs, greatly
reducing costs.
The savings made through fully integrating
channel shift with back office systems in both
time and money can simply not be ignored. If
local authorities are to be in a position to deal
with looming budget crises, they must act now
and implement solutions that deliver crucial
savings and enhance the customer experience.
These priorities have been clearly outlined
in the government’s digital strategy,
which is encouraging local authorities to
become digital by default. It sets out a
goal to embed digital skills into government,
developing a culture which designs digital into
services. It also recognises that many online
services in the public sector are still falling
short of being users’ first choice, as they are
not yet necessarily better or more convenient
than other channels.
Where measures to encourage online and
mobile contact with local authorities have
been embraced, that channel shift is clearly
changing the behaviour of council employees
and the community. Spelthorne Borough
Council is seeing tangible returns on its
investment with Capita, and its residents are
already benefiting from a faster service that
they can access as and when – and where
– they want to. Pressure is building for other
local authorities to catch up.
Capita’s software services business’s
latest whitepaper, Beyond Channel Shift, is available at: http://www.capita-softwareandmanagedservices.co.uk/news/Documents/BeyondChannelShift_WhitePaper_28032014.pdf
* Research Research conducted by Localise, the consumer profiling arm of DJS research.
Sean Langley FIRRV is a benefits and
revenues consultant, and author of ©The
phat Controller (A Leadership Handbook).
Go to www.seanlangley.co.uk32
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Management
that miscommunication, within the Germany
and Austria-Hungary alliance, led to incorrect
conclusions being drawn, and this weakened
their offensive right at the start of that war.
Maybe it is precisely that capacity for
intellectual thought that leads to many
conflicts, such as those I refer to above,
through misunderstanding and misreading
of others’ intentions. It is also true that
numerous disputes are propagated by
entrenched thinking.
I was consulted recently when I learned of an
incident in which a middle manager in an (un-
named) organisation witnessed a member of
their team in conversation at a water machine
twice, a half hour apart. The manager assumed
that the staff member had been there
throughout the half hour. They challenged the
employee, who denied the accusation, stating
that it was two separate visits. The manager
was then alleged to have accused them of
lying, which resulted in a grievance being
brought against that manager.
What transpired was that CCTV recorded the
exchange between the parties, and was able to
prove that the employee had indeed attended
the water machine twice – but, because there
was no audio available, what was said was
not provable. Therefore, it was not possible to
establish beyond reasonable doubt that the
manager had made the accusation of lying.
The outcome is not entirely irrelevant to my
point. What I take from this is the significance
How long has this being going on?
I’m finding the current spate of war-themed
news stories particularly disturbing.
The situation in Ukraine rumbles on, events
in Syria are far from resolved, conflict between
Israel and Palestine in Gaza has inevitably
escalated, and now the United States feels
compelled to re-enter Iraq to quell another
religion-fuelled uprising.
Rather bizarrely, one might think, my state
of mind was actually provoked upon hearing a
favourite old song on the radio just last night.
‘How Long’ by Ace was a hit in the seventies,
but I’m confident that many readers will at
least be familiar with it. What many may not
realise is the actual subject matter of the song.
Paul Carrack was the songwriter and vocalist
on the track, and its lyrics might suggest he was
lamenting a potential relationship breakdown
due to the infidelity of a partner. In actual
fact, Carrack is on record to explain that it was
penned about his concerns that the band’s
drummer was being regularly ‘tapped-up’ by
a rival artiste, and that Ace might lose him.
Consequently, I began to think about the
mistakes that humanity makes by ‘jumping to conclusions’, which I know I did about
‘How Long’ until I heard Carrack’s explanation.
Although I’m pretty certain that he utilised the
ambiguity of his lyrics to effect, planting that
mistaken understanding in many listener’s ears!
It ’s sad that for a race with such intellectual
capacity we’ve failed to recognise the lessons
from an event which, only recently, we have
commemorated the 100th anniversary of.
World War I was a monumental human
catastrophe, analysis of which is impossible in
just a few lines. But, there is some suggestion
of not jumping to conclusions, and to try
to establish facts before acting. If this had
been done by the manager, it may have been
possible to avoid time being lost to resolving a
dispute that need not have become one.
I acknowledge that it ’s not always easy, a
fact being experienced by investigators looking
into the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17
in Ukraine. However, the risk is the loss of
goodwill that can also result from such an
incident. This can manifest itself significantly,
beyond just the aggrieved party, and greater
conflict can evolve.
Such difficulties can be ill-afforded right
now. Local government, as has often been
said in the pages of this magazine, faces a
daunting and uncertain future. You may well
feel the pressure, but you need your ‘troops’ to be on side in facing that challenge – a
challenge that may become increasingly acute
into the next financial year.
The looming general election is the great
unknown, but one step closer to the darkness
is another step closer to the light, because the
darkest part of the night is just before dawn.
Entrenched thinking can result in
prolonged and elongated conflict. I fear that
I’m unlikely in my lifetime to see any sort of
resolution to many of the issues that remain
prevalent in the middle east, for that reason.
Which is why, putting politics aside, one has
to acknowledge the bravery of all concerned
in brokering the Good Friday agreement on
Northern Ireland – a conflict that had
become entrenched.
But, for me, some of the lessons are
abundantly clear. For successful management
and leadership it is essential to keep an
open mind. Do not jump to conclusions.
Do not allow causes to become a barrier to
resolution. Examine the facts before acting,
and communicate your rationale with clarity.
You won’t get it right every time, but you’ll
give yourself the best chance to emerge from
the darkness as early as it ’s possible to do!
“For successful management and leadership it is essential to keep an open mind. Do not jump to conclusions. Do not allow causes to become a barrier to resolution.”
Sean Langley seeks inspiration from the music scene once again
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It’s unfair to criticize collection ratesAlthough it has been relatively quiet on the
council tax front there have been a number of
interesting reports over the past few months.
Collection of arrearsThe annual statistical release from the
Department for Communities and Local
Government in early July identified a reduction
in the level of the council tax collection rate
in 2013/14, giving a 20% increase in arrears
as compared to the previous year:
• local authorities in England achieved a
national average in-year collection rate for
council tax of 97.0% in 2013/14, which is a
decrease of 0.4% over 2012/13
• the collection rate in all types of authority fell.
The biggest falls were in metropolitan areas,
which fell by 0.8%, and unitary authority
areas, which fell by 0.6%
• local authorities in England collected
£23.4 billion in council taxes by the end of
March 2014 out of a total of £24.1 billion
collectable. This is £1 billion more than the
same period in 2012/13
• at 31 March 2014, the total amount of
council tax still outstanding amounted to
£2,528 million. This is an increase of £152
million or 6% on the figure at the end of
March 2013.
The result was that billing authorities were
criticized, in my view unfairly, for allowing
arrears to increase. It is true that arrears
have increased, but there are perfectly good
reasons for this – none of which are of billing
authorities’ making. The cuts and structural
changes in council tax benefit forced on
councils, and the impact on individuals, often
compounded by the ‘bedroom tax’, and the
economic impact on families of the recession,
have impacted directly on taxpayers’ ability to
meet their obligations. Billing authorities have
done extremely well to contain the increase in
arrears to the levels that they have.
This view seems to be supported by
Citizens Advice, in that they have seen a
large increase in the number of people going
to them for help – a 17% rise in the number
of people with council tax arrears in the first
three months of 2014 compared with the
same period the previous year, before the
localisation and the 10% cut took effect.
RevaluationMoving on to the revaluation of council tax, a number of organisations are now
supporting the need for a revaluation. In its
annual assessment of the UK’s economic
reform plans, the European Commission has
urged the government to reform council tax
to remove ‘distortions’ caused by basing the
system on property values that are more than
two decades old. It has also said that regular
revaluations of the council tax system could
help stem rapid increases in property prices,
and bands and rates for the local tax should be
altered to make the system more equitable.
Then, the British Property Foundation (BPF) told us that government failures to
revalue properties over the past 23 years
had brought the council tax system ‘into disrepute’, and has called on all political
parties to include a commitment in their
manifestos for 2015 to undertake a revaluation
of council tax properties.
The BPF, which represents the commercial
property industry, said a revaluation should
be in all parties’ manifestos, and politicians
need not fear the wrath of voters who saw
their council tax bills increase following a
revaluation, it stated, as research from the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation showed 70% of
taxpayers would see only a negligible change.
According to the Foundation’s research,
there would be, for example, 17.3% net
gainers in the north compared to 22.9% net
losers in the south. The steepest property
price rises were in London, but even there
about half of bills would be largely unaffected.
Also, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has
stated that the failure to carry out a property
revaluation for the purposes of levying council
tax was ‘increasingly absurd’.Inevitably, the government’s response
has been that “A council tax revaluation is
unnecessary, expensive, and would push
up taxes on people’s homes” – seemingly
ignoring the research from the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation and the purpose of
revaluations to redistribute the incidence of
the tax as a result of changes in property
values. I seem to recall when council tax was
introduced that ministers were insistent on
the need for regular revaluations for the
scheme to maintain its integrity.
In my opinion, it is impossible not to agree
with the conclusions about the need for a
revaluation – it needs to be undertaken if
council tax is to remain relevant. Based on
research undertaken by Ulster University for
the reforms in Northern Ireland, the number of
bands could be increased to potentially either
13 or 15, and this would achieve some form
of equity.
Increasing the number of bands not only
helps to satisfy the equity argument but also
would take account of the significant changes
in relation to, and the distribution of,
property valuations.
“In my opinion, it is impossible not to agree with the conclusions about the need for a revaluation – it needs to be undertaken if council tax is to remain relevant.”
Pat Doherty FIRRV CPFA is an independent
consultant and a Past President of the
Institute. If you wish to comment on
anything in his article, please email him
Doherty’s despatch
This month, Pat Doherty’s attention is drawn to a couple of council tax ‘old chestnuts’, but their relevance remains
Julie Holden IRRV (Hons) MCMI CMg is
Town Clerk with East Grinstead Town Council,
and a Past President of the IRRV 34
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Viewpoint
underway we were subsequently asked
whether we would invite the Minister himself
(as this was the first unveiling), and we were
advised that he would be happy to speak.
With the help of the local branch of the
Royal British Legion (RBL) we arranged
the military band and had to arrange the
transport, which I did many months ago.
However I was dealing with the coach
company and the RBL with the band, so
collection and other arrangements were
not dealt with directly, but all ‘third hand’, making for a quite a stressful time! We
arranged for the local ex-servicemens’ club
to provide refreshments after the event
(again just left it to them and gave them an
approximate number for catering). We asked
the local community radio station to provide
the PA (again out of our hands), a local TA
corporal to organise the cadets, and asked the
local Rotary and Lions clubs to steward the
road closure which we applied for ourselves,
booked a first aider, and arranged staff to
help with the day itself.
Sounds all quite straightforward? Well, yes,
on the whole it was, but as the chief organiser
for this – bearing in mind I have a small team
and no-one has a job description to organise
civic events – this was all put in place by the
middle of July (for a late August event). The
invitations went out at the end of July, and
as is typical were slow in being replied to, so
final numbers were slow too (and a reserve
list of invitees were kept waiting). Throw
in to the mix that the event organiser (me)
finally gets a date for a long awaited surgical
procedure for the second week of August
(eleven days before the event) and this
became quite a test of organisation.
Everything had been booked, but some
last minute hiccups and changes of plan
(including the time that the regimental band
wanted collecting from the barracks), last
minute invites, and key people on holidays,
meant that inexperienced staff had to pick up
It’ll be alright on the night!
The life of a Town Clerk is somewhat varied,
and since making the leap into this line of
work I have certainly had many different
experiences, often calling on information and
knowledge from the past, and always needing
to draw on management experience and skills
which transect the sectors regardless of the
area of work.
Last year the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced that all towns which
were the bir thplace of a Victoria Cross (VC) recipient during World War 1 would
be awarded a paving stone in honour. As
it happened, lit tle East Grinstead was the
bir thplace of the first private soldier of the
Great War to be awarded the VC, and within
three weeks of Britain entering the war.
This meant we would be one of the first
to be unveiled.
We were asked to place the stone in the
street near where the person was born,
and to arrange an unveiling ceremony. Well,
we couldn’t actually pinpoint the place of
our VC’s bir th, as it no longer exists, so we
settled on the High Street War Memorial
instead! The idea of the event in itself was
not an insurmountable feat, but of course
such an event is public and involves family
members of the recipient – in our case
the VC did not die during the war, but lived
a long life, therefore leaving a direct line.
There were also several other lines of great
nieces/ nephews and cousins once or twice
removed who were aware of their family links.
Then of course you have the civic dignitaries
– Mayors, Chairmen, Sherif fs and Lord
Lieutenants who are to be invited – and throw
in the military representatives, a military
band, interest from the local Cadet troupes
and TA, and it all starts to sound quite grand.
Being co-incidentally the bank holiday
weekend in August we knew that several
of our invited guests would be unable to
attend – as it happened we lost the local MP
for this reason. But getting the arrangements
the baton and deal with the changes, knowing
that the chief organiser was not available for
consultation and may not attend on the day!
The need for good briefings, writ ten plans,
and reliable staff that can pick up and work
on their initiative became vital.
On the day itself, I did attend the
ceremony, and it was fantastic. The sun
shone (an added bonus!), the band played
excellently, the family members said it was
fit ting and emotional, and the Town Mayor
delivered his speech (first draft writ ten
some weeks before and then mislaid in an
email – only to be found 24 hours before the
event!). The Communities Secretary was most
complimentary, and delivered an excellent
speech himself, as well as being interviewed
by press on the day. Our timetable, which
had been slightly altered, was out by only five
minutes in the end, and a small hiccup (which
was resolved) with the PA was the only
problem for a three hour event.
The day was a testament to good
organisation and willing staff stepping in
when needed. An event such as this, with so
many outside contributors, will always have
last minute tweaking, but can be organised
well in advance and carried through.
Organisation and management skills and
good practice effectively demonstrated... and
that again proves the point that no-one is
irreplaceable in any organisation!
“But getting the arrangements underway we were subsequently asked whether we would invite the Minister himself (as this was the first unveiling), and we were advised that he would be happy to speak.”
...but good planning is vital if you want things to work, says Julie Holden
IRRV Training Days 2014
T: 020 7691 8987
W: www.irrv.net/trainingdays
• Business Rates Master Class Trainer:JanetAlexander 13–14October,IRRVOfficesLondon Anintensivetwo-daytrainingcoursedesignedforpractitionerswhohavean
understandingofBusinessRatesandwanttoimprovetheirlevelofknowledgefurthertoanadvancedlevel.Thecourseisdesignedforpractitionerswhoalreadyhaveanunderstandingofbusinessratesandwhowishtoenhancetheirknowledgefurthertomasterclasslevel.Attendeeswillimprovetheirunderstandingofthefollowingareas:Valuation,Liability,Reliefs,Billingandcollection,Enforcement.
• Council Tax Master Class Trainer:JanetAlexander 20–21October,IRRVOfficesLondon
Anintensivetwo-daytrainingcoursedesignedforallpractitionerswhohaveanunderstandingofCouncilTaxandwanttoimprovetheirlevelofknowledgefurthertoanadvancedlevel.ThecourseisdesignedforpractitinerswhoalreadyhaveanunderstandingofCouncilTaxandwhowishtoenhancetheirknowledgefurthertomasterclasslevel.Attendeeswillimprovetheirunderstandingofthefollowingareas:Valuation,Liability,Discountsandexemptions,Billingandcollection,Enforcement.
Fees:
Prices start at £115 (+ VAT) per person
IRRV London Level 3 Certificate and Diploma Qualifications
T: 020 7691 8974
W: www.irrv.net/courses
The Institute is again offering a Level 3 Certificate and Diploma course for 2014/15IRRV Level 3 Certificate
Starts Friday 17 OctoberThe subjects on offer for Level 3 Certificate will be as follows:Council Tax Law; Non-Domestic Rate Law; Revenues & Local Taxation Administration with Fraud and Welfare Benefits.
Tutors: Gary Watson, Louise Freeth, Richard Pain.
Fee: £1195.00 + VAT
IRRV Diploma
Starts Wednesday 15 OctoberThe subjects on offer for Diploma will be as follows:Compulsory: Centrally Set Assignment; Elective Assignment; Management 1 & 2; Management Case Study; Revenues Administration & Public Sector Finance.Optional (One of the following two subjects): Law of Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rate; Welfare Benefits.
Tutors: Sean Langley, Allan Traynor, Janet Alexander.
Fee: £1410.00 + VAT
Special Offer:
3 for 2 on multiple enrolments* * This offer is valid on multiple bookings with a minimum of 3 candidates.
Tel: Web: Email:
0844 576 [email protected]
JBW is the leading provider of compliance and enforcement services. We recover more revenue, using less enforcement activity, than any other provider in the UK. This is achieved through data analytics, propensity modelling and employing the UK’s leading technology - AR-12.
JBW is a judicial services partner to UK Government
Tel: Web: Email:
0844 576 [email protected]
JBW is the leading provider of compliance and enforcement services in the parking sector. We recover more revenue, using less enforcement activity, than any other provider in the UK. This is achieved through data analytics, propensity scoring and employing the UK’s leading technology - AR-12.
JBW is a judicial services partner to UK GovernmentLondon • Lancaster • Darlington
Business Process ServicesDebt Recovery Enforcement Arrest ServicesCase ManagementData AnalyticsPropensityFinance and Accounting
Services:Since the introduction of AR-12, combined with enforcement specific statistical based propensity models, collections performance has accelerated ahead of the market. In the last 12 months we have made 31% more successful visits, with payments received at first visit increasing by 72%.
Lajos Maurovich Horvat PhD, JBW Propensity & Data Analytics Team
Tel: Web: Email:
0844 576 [email protected]
JBW is the leading provider of compliance and enforcement services in the parking sector. We recover more revenue, using less enforcement activity, than any other provider in the UK. This is achieved through data analytics, propensity scoring and employing the UK’s leading technology - AR-12.
JBW is a judicial services partner to UK GovernmentLondon • Lancaster • Darlington
Business Process ServicesDebt Recovery Enforcement Arrest ServicesCase ManagementData AnalyticsPropensityFinance and Accounting
Services:Since the introduction of AR-12, combined with enforcement specific statistical based propensity models, collections performance has accelerated ahead of the market. In the last 12 months we have made 31% more successful visits, with payments received at first visit increasing by 72%.
Lajos Maurovich Horvat PhD, JBW Propensity & Data Analytics Team
Business Process ServicesDebt Recovery Enforcement Arrest ServicesCase ManagementData AnalyticsPropensityFinance and Accounting
Services:
Please come and visit us at Stand 24 at the IRRV Annual and Conference & Exhibition 2014 at the Telford Exhibition Centre, where you can complete our National Enforcement Services Survey for the chance to win an iPad Mini!
Tel: Web: Email:
0844 576 [email protected]
JBW is the leading provider of compliance and enforcement services in the parking sector. We recover more revenue, using less enforcement activity, than any other provider in the UK. This is achieved through data analytics, propensity scoring and employing the UK’s leading technology - AR-12.
JBW is a judicial services partner to UK GovernmentLondon • Lancaster • Darlington
Business Process ServicesDebt Recovery Enforcement Arrest ServicesCase ManagementData AnalyticsPropensityFinance and Accounting
Services:Since the introduction of AR-12, combined with enforcement specific statistical based propensity models, collections performance has accelerated ahead of the market. In the last 12 months we have made 31% more successful visits, with payments received at first visit increasing by 72%.
Lajos Maurovich Horvat PhD, JBW Propensity & Data Analytics Team
