Watford only authority to name councillors who paid tax late

Two other district councils in Hertfordshire are refusing to name councillors who missed payments, despite two members being summonsed to court this year.

In total, eight councillors across Hertfordshire’s district councils failed to pay on time in the past two years and had to be sent reminders.

Freedom of Information requests from the Local Democracy Reporting Service have revealed that councillors in North Herts, Watford and Stevenage have all owed money at some point since the start of 2020.

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North Herts and Stevenage councils cited privacy concerns, and refused to say how much was owed, even in the case of those threatened with court action.

Residents who miss a council tax payment are sent a reminder notice which will require payment within seven days.

Councils can also ask a magistrate for a ‘liability order’, which is a legal demand for payment. The council’s legal costs may also be added to the money owed.

Watford Borough Council confirmed the names of councillors who failed to pay their tax on time, after their own review of their decision.

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It revealed in 2020/21, Councillor Imran Hamid (Liberal Democrat, Oxhey) and Councillor Nasreen Shah (Labour, Vicarage) missed payments, and owed £332.26 and £184.79 respectively. Neither councillor have any payment outstanding.

The councillors added they had mitigating circumstances which explained the late payments. Cllr Hamid suffered a bereavement requiring him and his family to travel to Pakistan which was difficult and expensive due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cllr Shah’s arrears arose at a time when her husband was unable to work as a taxi driver due to the pandemic.

North Hertfordshire District Council refused to confirm which councillors failed to pay on time, despite two summons being sent to councillors in 2021.  An additional two councillors already missed payments and were sent reminders in 2020.

The district council said they were legally exempt from releasing the information on their party and amount owed under the Data Protection Act.

After asking for a review of the decision to withhold the information in late October, the district council said they would need more time to consider whether to release the information.

In their letter outlining the extension, the council said: “North Herts Council as a public authority have the right to do this under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as stated on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website where it states: ‘There may be circumstances where you require more time to complete an internal review, for example if you need to address complex issues, consult with third parties or consider substantial amounts of information.”

Stevenage Borough Council confirmed three councillors were sent council tax reminders in the 2020/21 financial year, but none of these included summons.

A review of the decision confirmed that all arrears were paid in full before any budget setting process commenced, and said this meant this information was also exempt.

The letter from Hertfordshire County Council’s solicitor Judith Gower, on behalf of the authority, concluded: ”Although elected Councillors are under a greater scrutiny than ordinary members of the public [the most recent summons] occurred in 2018-2019 and since then all Councillors have paid their council tax bills without any having to be threatened with Court action.”

Watford Borough Council confirmed the names of councillors who failed to pay their tax on time, after their own review of their decision.

It revealed in 2020/21, Councillor Imran Hamid (Liberal Democrat, Oxhey) and Councillor Shah (Labour, Vicarage) missed payments, and owed £332.26 and £184.79 respectively. Neither councillor have any payment outstanding.

The councillors added they had mitigating circumstances which explained the late payments. Cllr Hamid suffered a bereavement requiring him and his family to travel to Pakistan which was difficult and expensive due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cllr Shah’s arrears arose at a time when her husband was unable to work as a taxi driver due to the pandemic.

The other seven local authorities in Hertfordshire responded to the requests for information, and confirmed they had not sent any council tax reminders out to councillors during 2020 and 2021.