Council Tax - confused

CIS

Unfortunately as I suspected they would, the council have now confirmed I would not be eligible as a carer unless my mum received the higher rate of AA.

The legislation stated 'higher' until it was amended and that word replaced by 'an' but, to be fair, it was only recently amended in 2013 so you can't expect the council to be that up to date... I have updated copies of the acts/orders/regulations as I use them daily in my council tax disputes/valuation appeals so I would expect a local authority to at least try to keep up to date. If I didn't then my clients wouldn't be correctly supported so I don't see why the council cannot do so to support their decisions.

noclaf

CIS wrote: »

The legislation stated 'higher' until it was amended and that word replaced by 'an' but, to be fair, it was only recently amended in 2013 so you can't expect the council to be that up to date... I have updated copies of the acts/orders/regulations as I use them daily in my council tax disputes/valuation appeals so I would expect a local authority to at least try to keep up to date. If I didn't then my clients wouldn't be correctly supported so I don't see why the council cannot do so to support their decisions.

Ah I see....so they sent me their own 'carers form's specific to this local authority which still refers to the higher AA condition..the one.you.mention is out of date post 2013
If I am to push back on this which legislation should I be basing my argument on that the carers discount should.still apply etc?
I am starting to realise just how painful this council tax stuff is...every website has.something different and only just scratching the surface..hence appreciate your wisdom on this topic!

CIS

noclaf wrote: »

Ah I see....so they sent me their own 'carers form's specific to this local authority which still refers to the higher AA condition..the one.you.mention is out of date post 2013
If I am to push back on this which legislation should I be basing my argument on that the carers discount should.still apply etc?
I am starting to realise just how painful this council tax stuff is...every website has.something different and only just scratching the surface..hence appreciate your wisdom on this topic!

The carers disregard rules are the same across each local authority however they've obviously not kept up with the changes on the way they've worded their forms etc (I wonder how many others they have declined ?).

It's an argument on legislation I would say - they can be messy (especially when explaining the interplay between different sections- at least 2 would apply regarding the liability) and another couple regarding carers disregard to fully cover the points of argument. If you want to start then you need to start with Legislation.gov.uk and work through the originating legislation from 1992 onwards.



A lot of the websites out there can be confusing either because they generalise points or because they've not been maintained. I'm often re-writing my own bits and pieces to improve clarity or address extra points of legislation.

noclaf

Does this link below refer to the legislation update from 2013 re attendance allowance rates Vs eligibility?

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/725/made

CIS

noclaf wrote: »

Does this link below refer to the legislation update from 2013 re attendance allowance rates Vs eligibility?

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/725/made

That's the one. I was going to post the link this morning for you but have been caught in drafting some tribunal submissions.

noclaf

CIS wrote: »

That's the one. I was going to post the link this morning for you but have been caught in drafting some tribunal submissions.

I've gone back to them with the link included and stated that based on this believe I should be eligible for the discount. I am curious though, are council's 'legally obliged' to apply/follow the legislation? It seems that it's not a level playing field more luck of the throw depending on who your council is etc Not ideal but I guess nobody has the time or budget to police them all to make sure they tow the line.and update their policies

CIS

noclaf wrote: »

I've gone back to them with the link included and stated that based on this believe I should be eligible for the discount. I am curious though, are council's 'legally obliged' to apply/follow the legislation? It seems that it's not a level playing field more luck of the throw depending on who your council is etc Not ideal but I guess nobody has the time or budget to police them all to make sure they tow the line.and update their policies

They have no choice but to apply legislation, they are legally obliged to.

noclaf

Hi CIS,

Just wanted to say thanks for your help. The net result is my mum is disregarded and I received a further discount as her carer.
I have decided not to follow up on asking for a backdated discount because based on my dealings with the council so far I don't really want to entertain the headache and time wasting it will no doubt involve!