IRRV Alert August 3 2008
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Alarm as town hall snoops demand to spy on your bedroom
Alarm as town hall snoops demand to spy on your bedroom
Single person’s council tax discount conditional on letting inspectors into your home
New concerns over privacy and the abuse of town hall intrusion powers were raised today as it was revealed that councils are demanding access to people’s homes in order to claim council tax discounts.
There are a number of council tax exemptions and discounts which can legitimately give people a reduction on the bill. This includes a 25% single person’s discount for any household with just one adult. Evidence has emerged that councils are now demanding that they are given powers of entry inside people's homes as a condition of granting that discount.
· State officials to enter your bedroom: In a growing case of “function creep”, in order to claim that discount, householders are being pressured into signing the following declaration:
"To be completed and returned immediately if you wish to continue to claim single person discount: … I authorize the Council or its agents to make enquiries to corroborate this claim.
I will permit the Council or its agents to inspect the property on request. …
If you do not do so, we will have to cancel your discount and send you a revised bill for the increased amount”
This opens the prospect of town hall officials entering people’s homes to look for a hidden partner. This would inevitably include checking people’s bedrooms for evidence and raising questions about the sleeping habits of any girlfriend or boyfriend. The Government’s council tax ‘best practice’ guide explicitly encourages councils to undertake ‘spot check’ internal inspections of properties, giving practical tips how to “maximise their time spent on inspections”.
· Detail records of bedrooms being logged: It is already the case that the Government’s council tax inspectors, the Valuation Office Agency, have built up detailed records of the number of bedrooms in every property – in preparation for the English council tax revaluation. The most recent figures show that they know the details of 2.5 million homes which have 1 bedroom, 6.2 million with 2 bedrooms, 10.0 million with three bedrooms and 3.1 million with four bedrooms or more.
· Growing scope of state powers of entry: The Home Office has recently admitted that there are now 1,043 state powers of entry, with 753 exercisable under primary legislation and 290 through secondary legislation. In total, an estimated 430 new powers of entry have been created by Labour. The Centre for Policy Studies has warned that due to the "proliferation and variety of entry powers" householders cannot now "realistically be aware" of their rights and legal obligations.
· Town halls could use surveillance powers to spy on homes: This revelation coincides with the increasing use of “directed surveillance” powers by town halls under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. These laws would allow councils covertly to spy on any home to see to check the movements of people in and out of any home, for the purposes of vetting council tax discounts.
Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, said:
“Day by the day under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being undermined, with more and more state officials trying to enter and spy on people’s homes.
“It may be appropriate for local authorities to check that council tax discounts are not wrongly claimed. But it is wholly disproportionate to threaten higher council tax bills if residents do not allow state officials into their bedrooms. This is another worrying sign of function creep. State duties originally intended to tackle fraud are now being over-used by bureaucrats in a heavy-handed, intrusive manner.
“I fear such state intrusion is a sign of things to come, with an army of bureaucrats currently being trained to enter homes across the country for Gordon Brown’s council tax revaluation.”
Notes to editors
TOWN HALLS DEMAND ACCESS TO YOUR BEDROOM
The attached document (anonymised) from one council shows how in order to claim the single person discount, the householder is forced to fill out a declaration giving the council internal access to their home.
Scanned in PDF of town hall form:
http://www.conservatives.com/pdf/counciltaxsnoopingform.pdf
The Government’s own ‘best practice’ council tax collection guide explicitly encourages councils to undertake inspections, telling councils to ensure:
“5.4 Entitlement to single person discount is reviewed annually.”
“14.7 Inspection visit schedules are produced in walksort order by the system to minimise preparation, travel time and mileage.
“14.8 Where an internal inspection of a property is required an appointment is made beforehand with the customer
“14.9 Inspection staff are backed by clerical support staff to ensure that they maximise their time spent on inspections.
14.12 Inspectors carry official identification at all times in order that customers can identify the person with whom they are dealing.
14.14 Inspectors carry out spot checks on cases with SPD [Single Person's Discount].”
ODPM/DCLG, Council Tax Collection Good Practice, pp.56, 60.
http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/Ct.htm
OVER 1,000 GOVERNMENT POWERS OF ENTRY
Last month, the “operational policing” section of the Home Office slipped out a new detailed survey of powers of entry by state officials. There was no press release, no comment and no fanfare.
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/powers-pace-codes/powers-of-entry-review/
It detailed 753 separate powers under primary legislation and 290 powers under secondary legislation for the state to enter homes and businesses.
A report by the Centre for Policy Studies last year, warned of a large expansion in entry powers under Labour, and asserted:
“Since the middle of the 20th century, the number of such legal provisions – powers of entry – has grown enormously, mirroring the expansion of the role of the state.
“As a result of the proliferation and variety of entry powers, a citizen cannot realistically be aware of the circumstances in which his home may be entered by state officials without his consent, or what rights he has in such circumstances…
“In many cases, discretion as to what is considered as reasonable behaviour in exercising an entry power is left to the judgement of those wielding the entry power…
“Many powers are drafted so broadly that the citizen has little or no protection if officials behave officiously or vindictively. Some carry draconian penalties for obstruction, including heavy fines and prison sentences of up to two years.”
Harry Snook, Crossing the Threshold: 266 ways the State can enter your home, Centre for Policy Studies, April 2007.
http://www.cps.org.uk/historiccatalogue/?pageno=3&producttypeid=1&categoryid=0&authorid=0
COUNCIL TAX SNOOPERS LOGGING BEDROOMS
This comes as the Valuation Office Agency, Gordon Brown’s council tax inspectors, are trying up details of every home in England for the postponed, but still forthcoming, council tax revaluation. Recent Parliamentary Questions have show how the number of bedrooms has already been recorded.
“Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residential dwellings in England are recorded by the Valuation Office Agency with the dwelling house coding of having (a) one bedroom, (b) two bedrooms, (c) three bedrooms and (d) four or more bedrooms.
Jane Kennedy: As at 4 October 2007, the relevant number of dwellings in England were 2,545,082 with one bedroom, 6,247,291 with two bedrooms, 10,045,887 with three bedrooms and 3,139,945 with four or more bedrooms.”
Hansard, 17 October 2007, col. 1138W.
The Government’s “council tax referencing manual” reveals how council tax inspectors will be sizing up people’s homes to the nearest metre. This includes logging bathrooms, bedrooms, conservatories, the size of attics, fitted cupboards, outbuildings. Even the details of windows – such as sliding sash windows - must be logged. Pages from the manual (p. 44-45) show how a home is measured up:
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Inspectors stocking up on cameras and laser measures: To assist the revaluation process, the council tax snoopers have recently purchased 800 digital cameras, costing over £110,000. In addition, 1,100 laser measures have been ordered in, costing over £200,000. The supplier of the laser devices notes that they are "ideal for all interior work!". The training manual advices that when undertaking council tax inspections, they could carry their official identity card, laser devices, camera, clipboard, pens, location plans, survey sheets and personal alarm.
Big Brother property database: All this information is being entered into a Big Brother computer database, called the ‘Automated Valuation Model’. Built using the latest American technology from tax consultants, Cole Layer Trumble, it will calculate council tax bills according to the plot size, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, parking spaces, and 'value significant' features like nice neighbourhoods or scenic views. Already 1.6 million photographs of homes are on the database, with detailed figures on the number of bathrooms, bedrooms and conservatories in people's homes. Inspections will be required to obtain more detailed information on the homes. The Labour Government has already spent £13 million on developing the database – with £3 million having been spent since the supposed ‘postponement’ of the revaluation.
Sources:
VOA, Council tax referencing manual, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.conservatives.com/pdf/counciltaxinspectorshandbook.pdf
Camera statistics, from Hansard, 22 May 2008, col. 440W.
Computer database development cost, from Hansard, 27 June 2007, col. 817W.
ENDS