Local Council SAR Request Refusal to Provide Correct Information

peteuk

Not sure this is on the right board, it has nothing to do with Benefits or tax credits.

ASmallBeanToe

Where is the correct place to post about the benefits department of my local council failing to provide the information I need to pass on to the board that oversees council tax support and reduction being provided properly?

I assumed this would be the best place to get responses from people who had an idea of how benefits departments and their record systems functioned and how to work around their failures.

huckster

@ASmallBeanToe Have you ever thought that you may not be best person to take forward your complaint with the Council? Sometimes when you come across an organisation that is putting up a barrier each time you contact them, then you have to think about alternative ways to proceed.

If the Council are refusing to accept complaint and deal with it. You can go straight to the Local Government Ombudsman. They should contact the Council and tell them they have to answer your complaint. Or you can go to your local Citizens Advice and they will contact the Council if there are issues the Council should be helping with. Or you can contact your local MP and ask them to contact the Council.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118976#Comment_82118976

Have you engaged you local councillor in your issue? They would be a good place to push your issue.

Newcad

I have to say that I'm not at all sure just what the problem is here?
(And I think that the council are of the same mind, they are not at all sure what your issue is).

OK the dates at the top of the letters are when they were accessed for the SAR rather than the dates they were originally created/sent, but so what?

The contents of the letters are still the same as they were when produced
Data is data, the contents of a letter are the contents of a letter, regardless of when it was accessed.

What information/data is it that you are actually looking to get from this SAR?
If what you want is the dates that the letters were originally created/sent then you need to specifically ask for that.

molerat

As I understand it there is a timeline issue here - I asked this, they replied that - and some of the letters were not received by op so it would be important that the letters have the actual date they were written on them.

Robbie64

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119810#Comment_82119810

This is also how I understand it. If it is the case then the council should be providing copies of letters with the correct date and not with a post-SAR request date.

peteuk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6681136/local-council-sar-request-refusal-to-provide-correct-information

Just from your first statement

I am pursuing legal action and a tribunal appeal against my council for multiple issues specific to council tax and benefits. As part of this I made a SAR request for copies of all communications and records they had on my account.

This is not a benefit question, not once have you mentioned what the issue is with the benefit or council tax is, and as you have the letters (which you have albeit wrongly dated) then you can work out what went wrong and then ask how to fix it or what went wrong.

But my question is, from what I can gather, and it is confusing, you’re trying to say you didn’t get the letters, but they have provided you with the letters sent. I’m not sure what your trying to prove.

The thread is three pages long and no one has provided you any support on your benefit claims. The council only provide council tax relief, and each council applies its own rules depending on the circumstance. If they have missed calculated your benefits received or not taken into account a factor when calculating then more info will be required to support you.

Blancmang25

@Newcad completely agree, it doesn't matter that the date is when the SAR was actioned it will still contain the details in the body of the letter, this cannot be changed. You can access both benefit and council tax letters online if you have an account and these will show the exact dates. Obviously you cannot access everything you have sent as this will be on a completely separate system.

@peteuk on the 5th post(I think) it does mention council tax support, as they state 2 lots of income have been used in the calculation and they are waiting for a tribunal in 3 weeks, so my guess is this is a benefit tribunal(Council Tax Support).

I have tried to explain(having worked in benefits, council tax and SAR) it will depend how the information is being extracted. Newcad gave a very good example of this and as advised if you want the letters with the correct dates on, this will have to be specifically asked for and that will take time as these will have to be individually actioned.

sheramber

The simple issue is , the OP wants letters that bear the actual date ot issue , not the date it has been extracted from the system.

eg 15/10/2021 1/5/2026

15/10/2022 not 1/5/2026.

It appeaars she has nopt explained this to this the council in a way that they can understand.