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INSIGHT

INSIDE: DWP focus • Reflections • It’s a funny old world • Legal view • Education and membership

July 2014 £6.50 www.irrv.net

ISSN

136

1-13

05

Will transactingonline be justwishful thinking?Insight newcomer Pete Challis presents a powerful case for total local authority involvement in Universal Credit delivery

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.

July 2014 ISSN 1361-1305

A message from the Deputy Chief Executive.

Log in to ‘magazines’ in themember area of www.irrv.net to hear the message online.

Cover story 18

Will transacting online be just wishful thinking?

Insight newcomer Pete Challis presentsa powerful case for total local authority involvement in Universal Credit delivery.

Reflections 25

Reflecting on a valued careerInstitute stalwart of fifty-fiveyears Peter Fairhurst makes a fitting contribution to Insight’s occasional series.

Editor’s welcome

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Regular items

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John Roberts IRRV (Hons) is Managing Editor of the Institute’s magazines

The advent of summer may mean a pleasant break away from the pressures of work, but we’re here to make sure you keep up to date with the latest developments, whatever your chosen element of the profession. Now that Insight is available electronically to all of our members, access is of course available wherever you are around the world... but don’t forget to relax in between catching up!

This month, our cover story incorporates an invite to join the debate on the emergence of Universal Credit and the welfare reform agenda. UNISON’s Pete Challis, who presented a paper to the IRRV’s Welfare Reform and Benefits Conference at Keele earlier this year, is back with a spirited defence of the role of the local authority in benefits administration. Pete’s challenge is for readers to comment on his forthright views, and to ensure that the local authority of the future includes a key role in the delivery of the new benefit. Contact me on [email protected] with your views, and we’d be happy to publish them, or even turn them into articles for your magazine. Alternatively, why not use the opportunity to let our Chief Executive, David Magor, know you views by tweeting him – his Twitter details are in our ‘Chief Executive’s Notes’ on page five.

Of course, the July issue of Insight includes many of our regular features, including contributions from our friends with the Local Government Ombudsman and the Department for Work and Pensions, and a special ‘reflections’ piece penned by long-standing Institute member and Past President Peter Fairhurst, who caps fifty-five years of membership with some recollections that will no doubt strike a chord with many of you.

Read on and enjoy!

“ A very literal warm welcome (hopefully!) to the July edition of our member-ship magazine, Insight.”

What’s in the next issue... • newcomer George Massey on the rating

of empty property

• Wales in the spotlight, as Moira Hepworth reports from Llandrindod Wells

• leadership skills with a difference from Mark Davies

Chief Executive’s notes 05

News and events 06

Education and membership 08

Running the Institute 10

From the archives 11

Its a funny old world 12

Faculty Board report 13

Valuation matters 14

Benefits bulletin 16

DWP focus 17

Collection & enforcement 21

Legal view 24

LGO update 28

Management 29

Technology 30

Doherty’s despatch 32

Viewpoint 34

Milton Keynes Service Partnership is the largest front-facing service provider to Milton Keynes Council, covering an area of 103,500 households and almost 7,000 businesses. In partnership with the Council our Revenues & Benefits Service deals with some 200,000 documents, 142,000 phone calls, 62,000 reception visitors a year and pays out £101,643,197 in Housing Benefit and £14,701,724 in Council Tax Reduction

The award winning Service administers and collects Council Tax and National Non-Domestic Rates of about £250 million each year.

Following a recent restructure, we have a number of exciting opportunities for experienced Revenues and Benefit practitioners to strengthen our team.

For a full list of vacancies please visit our website www.mksp.org.uk

Revenues Operations Manager£48,000 to £50,000 Ref: 59000657We are looking for a highly talented and enthusiastic Revenues professional to lead the Revenues Service.

This is a senior role reporting directly to the Revenues and Benefits Service Delivery Manager. With full IRRV qualification, or equivalent experience, you will have a track record of leadership at a senior level together with an in-depth knowledge of the working practices and management of a successful Revenues Service. With strategic vision and the ability to translate it into achievable objectives you will be skilled in managing performance, projects, and change; and understanding and meeting the needs of customers. With responsibility for about 40 staff this is a role that demands exceptional skills in staff management and development

The key deliverables include:• LeadingtheServiceintothefuturetakingastrategicview

of service delivery needs• ManagingtheRevenuesServicetomeetitspurposeof

issuing prompt and correct bills that are understandable and easy to pay; and collecting monies outstanding quickly and efficiently

• MaximisingperformancetoensureahighqualityServicethat is responsive to the needs of our customers

For informal enquiries please contact Alistair Townsend, Service Delivery Manager - Tel 01908 253713

Recovery Manager £40,000 to £45,000 Ref: 59000658We are looking for a Revenues Recovery Manager to be part of the Management team to shape and drive the Service in recovering a variety of debt types. MKSP is continually redesigning the way it delivers exceptional value for money services for Milton Keynes Council and its citizens and this

role is to maximise cash collected and you will motivate and inspire the team and third party suppliers to meet and exceed performance targets.

Your focus will be in motivating, developing and supporting your team to collect a variety of debt types, including Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing Benefit Overpayments as well as managing external suppliers to maximise cash collection. Along with the drive, attitude and genuine desire to consistently exceed targets you will lead the team to redesign processes to continually improve performance.In addition to management experience, you will have significant experience of representation & advocacy in the Magistrates Court and Valuation Tribunal.

The key deliverables include:• Managingtheenforcementofdifferentdebtstreams,

including Council Tax, NNDR and Housing Benefit overpayments

• Creatingeffectivepartnershipswithenforcementbodies• AssistinginthecontinuousimprovementoftheRevenues

Service.

For informal enquiries please contact Alistair Townsend, Service Delivery Manager - Tel 01908 253713

Assistant Assessment Manager£36,000 Ref: 59000652With significant experience in Housing Benefit & Council Tax Reduction processing activities, you will have previous experience & success in managing and developing a team as well as a good working knowledge of Benefits legislation including council tax reduction schemes.You will support the Benefits Assessment Manager in providing an efficient, high quality and customer focused Benefit service that delivers both corporate and team objectives that exceed expectations. The role will involve:• AssistingtheBenefitAssessmentManagerinensuring

an effective & efficient Service that continually meets its key performance indicators and service measures & achieves customer excellence

• Managing a team responsible for the accurate and prompt administration of claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction

For informal enquiries please contact Gill Long, Benefit Assessment Manager - Tel: 01908 253188

To apply, please visit www.mksp.org.ukClosing date: 13 July 2014Please quote appropriate reference.

Partnership No: OC380848Registered address: Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Central Milton Keynes MK9 3EJ

Milton Keynes Service Partnership

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5David Magor OBE IRRV (Hons) is Chief Executive of the Institute

Their challenge is to find better ways to fund local services and

promote economic growth in England. The Commission is to

be chaired by Darra Singh, now a partner with the Government

and Public Sector team at Ernst and Young. The Commission is

expected to publish interim findings in the autumn, ahead of a

final report in early 2015.

There is no doubt the Commission will hope to influence

the main political parties in the lead up to the next General

Election, and ultimately shape the debate on the future of

local government finance.

The aim of the Commission will be to examine the options

for the reform of financing, to enable local government to

address the following five key challenges:

• promoting economic growth and investment in infrastructure

• ensuring sufficient housing is provided in every place

• integrating the health and social care systems to promote

independent living, including preventing unnecessary

health interventions

• achieving a welfare benefits system that promotes work and

protects the vulnerable

• supporting families and developing young lives through

early intervention.

We all know Darra Singh is a very talented individual, but he

will have to be at his best to steer this juggernaut through

the troubled waters of local government finance. The cloaked

reference to the functionality of Universal Credit will certainly

attract attention, particularly if they challenge its flawed

delivery model and protect the support for housing costs. Of

the other challenges, there can be no argument that they are

touching the pulse of the major issues facing our society, but

where is the money going to come from?

If the Commission is to have any impact it must meet, head

on, the operation of the rate retention scheme, be brave in

making recommendations for modernising council tax to create

a stable property tax that is fit for the 21st century, and find

additional sources of revenue that will give local government

a stable financial foundation that will create a strong,

fiscally independent, sub-national government. Successive

governments have tried to destroy local government in

England by piecemeal reform and the application of a

financial straightjacket.

The ‘mission impossible’ for Darra and his team is to create

a model for local government that will re-establish its role as

the foundation of our democracy. I wish him well, and give him

the assurance that the Institute will be ready to help him in

his endeavours.

Let our Chief Executive, David Magor, know your views by tweeting him on twitter.com/@DavidLMagor

Chief Executive’s notes

“There is no doubt the Commission will hope to influence the main political parties in the lead up to the next General Election, and ultimately shape the debate on the future of local government finance.”

Just another Commission?

Let’s hope it turns out be more than that, says David Magor

CIPFA and the Local Government Association have set up an independent commission to make recommendations for the reform of local government finance in England.

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West Midlands AssociationThe West Midlands Association’s first event of 2014/15 took place at the offices of BNP Paribas Real Estate at Colmore Row in Birmingham on 19 May, when Simon Horsington spoke on the subject of rates retention, and lessons learned from the first year.In the first half he set the scene, describing the combined

effect of the new funding arrangements and welfare reform

as the “biggest changes for revenues and benefits in 30

years” – a statement few would disagree with. He also

referred to the need for authorities to ensure they take into

account the need to satisfy the Equality Act and ‘best value’ when making changes to the way they operate.

In the second half, Simon went into the practical steps

authorities need to take to ensure they maximise their rate

income, including ensuring staff have the necessary skills,

and all rateable properties are identified and notified to the

VOA. I was particularly impressed with his understanding

of the numbering system used by one company for its

advertising rights on bus shelters – I don’t think he keeps

the individual numbers in a notebook in his anorak pocket,

but he clearly knows his stuff! I for one certainly found that

after the meeting I was seeing advertising rights, ATMs and

radio masts everywhere, and one of my colleagues now

looks out from the top deck of the 33 bus every morning

for anything we might have missed!

Thanks to Andrew Ludwig, Secretary and Vice President of

the Association, for this report.

News and events

Peter Mather – a celebration of life

Insight is extremely sorry to report the sad loss of Peter Mather, who died recently after a long illness, leaving a wife and two children.

Having worked for a number of other north-west councils from 1978, his

final move was to Trafford MBC in 1986, where he retired from the post of

Head of Revenues and Benefits in July 2012. His loss is not only felt solely

at Trafford, but by colleagues and friends across the region, and elsewhere

within the Institute.

Peter was a keen supporter of the IRRV, and was especially keen to

champion the benefits of membership, supporting many colleagues and

junior officers studying for their IRRV examinations, and mentoring their

career progress. He was also a regular magazine contributor.

Peter had many words of wisdom to offer, with some famous quotes that

he would often bring to any discussion. If something had gone wrong (in

another section of the council, as nothing went wrong in Peter’s!) he would

say “but that’s the first page in the text book”, or “what planet are they

on?” His staff meetings were often akin to a dressing room, as he invariably

solved issues by reference to how his favourite football club, Liverpool,

worked together as a team. This didn’t always go down well in a borough

that hosts Manchester United!

His positive attitude to life even at its most difficult was displayed none

more so than in the two years after his diagnosis. He showed tremendous

strength in just continuing to get on with making the most of life.

In a moving funeral service, attendees were treated to a written

‘swansong’ from the man himself, ranging from his love of sport, his family

and life itself. He concluded with a very moving but fitting summary – “Yes,

on reflection it’s been a wonderful life and a fantastic journey. Celebrate

my life and don’t be too sad, as I know we will meet up again. As the old

saying goes, ‘Do not cry because it’s over, smile because it’s happened!’ ”

Editor’s note – Insight is grateful to Peter’s friends and colleagues from

Trafford MBC and the Lancashire and Cheshire Association, who have

contributed to this tribute.

The President’s blog As Institute President Richard Harbord continues on the endless tour of Presidential duties towards the normality of life after the role, he invites members to share in his activities.Richard’s update chronicles his latest

travels, in what he declares as the

busiest time of the Presidential year.

You can find out exactly what Richard

has been up to over the past few

weeks by logging in to http://rich-ardharbord.blogspot.co.uk/.

Performance Awards 2014 –the finalists are on show!The finalists in each category of the Institute’s 2014 Performance Awards are scheduled to be announced very soon after the publication of this edition of Insight.

Log in to irrv.net/Awards and find out who is on

course to appear at this year’s Performance Awards

Gala Dinner, when the winners in each category will be

announced and trophies presented. The event will be

held during the IRRV Annual Conference at Telford on

Wednesday, 8th October 2014.

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IRRV organisational members JBW sponsor Impstart Trust JBW has donated the sum of £6,000 to The Impstart Trust to support the charity’s purchase of a coach for its team.The ‘IMPS’ is dedicated to educating children

through, though not exclusively, their leisure

time activities. This is delivered by a disciplined,

dynamic and challenging programme of

activities with a world-famous motorcycle

display team at its heart.

Known for their extraordinary displays of

Captions invited!

It’s caption time once again...This month we focus on an all too familiar victim – our Deputy Chief Executive, Gary Watson. What are Gary’s thoughts as he stares intently at the laptop? Email the Editor on [email protected] with your suggestions!

Last month, we needed a caption to describe

Senior Vice President Kevin Stewart’s thoughts,

as he ponders confining something (or someone!)

to the Institute’s very own ‘Room 101’. Our winner

this month is Matt Wilson of Watford BC, with “Did I ever show you a picture of the amazing set of wheels they put me in charge of during the Paralympics?” As if that was not enough, Matt also

provided some more gems, including, “Work have just sent me this brilliant filing tray for all my amazing ideas!” and “They let me drop Lord Freud off - what an honour it was to have him come and talk at our conference! I wonder if he made his train OK?”

Datatank’s Rob Andrews came a close second,

though, with “As his Presidential year fast approaches Kevin has taken talking rubbish to a new level.”

Northern Ireland transitional scheme consultation launchedThe Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland has

launched a public consultation on the details of the Transitional Rate

Relief Scheme to manage rates convergence as a result of local

government reorganisation. The scheme is intended to help ratepayers

who would otherwise face sudden increases in district rates. Key IRRV

personnel and members have been heavily involved in assisting with the

process. The consultation document is seeking views on the following:

• the eligibility criteria for the scheme

• the duration of the scheme

• the level of relief to be provided each year.

The consultation document can be viewed on http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/rating-review/140529_review_of_public_administration_consultation_paper_-_final_draft.pdf.

discipline and skill, the IMPS displays feature

a billowing fire jump and multiple motorcycle

combination ‘cross-over’ routine. Their youngest

performer is only five years old!

Jamie Waller, CEO of JBW said, “Having

joined the IMPS at the age of 5 and spending

11 years of my life travelling the world, riding

motorbikes and learning vital life skills, I am

delighted to help assist others achieve the

same. The time I spent with the IMPS helped

make me the person I am today. It is great

to give something back with the success they

helped me achieve.”

Number in council tax arrears has rocketed, says Citizens AdviceThe number of people seeking help for council tax arrears has ‘rocketed’

to become the most common type of debt problem, Citizens Advice has

said. Between January and March 2014 the organisation helped 27,000

people who had fallen into council tax arrears – a 17% increase on the

same period in 2013. This comes after council tax benefit changes were

introduced in April 2013.

Citizens Advice said one in five people who had reported debt

problems to the charity in 2014 had a council tax arrears issue. The

charity called for local councils to ensure council tax support schemes

were focused on families and households who were ‘most in need’.

The organisation said 42% of people who asked it for help between

January and March with council tax arrears were employed, compared

with 28% who were unemployed, and 30% not working due to ill health,

caring responsibilities or retirement.

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Education and membership

Kevin Stewart FIRRV MAAT MCMI is Senior Vice

President of the IRRV, and Chair of the Education

and Membership Committee

New members

Don’t forget to update your membership details.

Log on to

www.irrv.net

STUDENT MEMBERSNAME EMPLOYER

Heather Rochford Kingford Partnership Limited

CORPORATE MEMBERS NAME EMPLOYER

Diane Turner arvato UK

Allan Gunn The Highland Council

HONOURS MEMBERS NAME EMPLOYER

David Lewis Manchester VOA

Nicholas Lambarde Scott Scott Davidson Ltd

Kenneth McCormack GVA James Barr

Philip Deacon Self-employed

Andrew Birch North Lincolnshire Council

QCF MEMBERS NAME EMPLOYER

Catherine Cox Wycombe District Council

ORGANISATIONAL MEMBERS NAME

LHL Property Auditors Ltd

This month, I will concentrate largely on

membership matters, as by the time you read

this article, the exams will have taken place and

students will be eagerly waiting for their results.

For the benefit of students sitting the IRRV exams

in June 2014, can I please take the opportunity

to remind you that you will be able to obtain your

results on the Institute’s website from 9.30am

on Wednesday 20th August 2014. Please

note that to obtain your results you will need

your IRRV membership number, your student

number, and your membership subscription

needs to be up to date. Finally to all you June

2014 students, good luck, and I hope to be able

to present certificates as the current Chair of the

Education and Membership Committee to some

of the successful students at the IRRV Annual

Conference this coming October.

Now back to membership matters. We have as

you may have noticed just released an online

IRRV Members’ Directory that gives the

names of all members of the Institute including

organisational members. This directory is

available at http://irrv.net/membership_directory/. The IRRV used to produce this

directory in hard copy form, but we will now

regularly update the new online version (we

hope as often as weekly), so there will be

no need to completely produce a brand new

copy every year. If you are an IRRV member,

please check your own individual entry to see

if anything needs correcting – including which

Association you have been placed in – the

directory lists members by Association. If you

see anything that needs correcting, or there

are any suggestions to improve the directory

further, please do let us know.

As you will all know, I am due to become IRRV

National President on 8 October 2014. One

of my main tasks, building on the work of my

illustrious predecessors, is to retain and build

on the current IRRV membership. The current

IRRV membership categories are highlighted

at http://www.irrv.net/membership/index.asp. If you know of anyone you feel is

interested, or you feel would like to become a

member (even with a gentle push!), please talk

to them or let me know, and I will ensure that

someone, including possibly me, talks to them.

As well as individual IRRV membership, the

Institute offers Organisational Membership

of the IRRV. Further details can be found

at http://www.irrv.net/home/item.asp?ID=1231&Search=organisational membership&SearchPage=Y.

We already have a number of organisational

members, and if you wish to join this category

you will get a number of benefits, such as the

use of the IRRV organisational membership

logo, inclusion in the electronic ‘Find a Member’ online Directory, 25% discount on

advertising in IRRV magazines, discount on

all IRRV publications and on exhibition stands

and delegate places at IRRV Conferences,

Professional Meetings/Training Days, and the

IRRV suite of electronic products. Use of the

Technical Enquiry Service is also a valuable

part of the package.

If you are interested in becoming an

organisational member, please let the IRRV

know or complete the application form at

http://www.irrv.net/documents/31/Org_Membership_Flyer_2013.pdf.

It’s Kevin Stewart’s turn again to point out the many benefits of IRRV membership

Don’t forget to update your membership details.

Log on to

www.irrv.netCongratulations to everyone!!

NAME QUALIFICATION EMPLOYER

Iain Bowler Level 3 QCF Generic Pathway Wycombe DC

Frances Collard Level 3 QCF Benefits Pathway Kings Lynn & West Norfolk BC

Nick Dobbs Level 3 QCF Local Taxation Pathway East Dorset DC

Alexandra Fox Level 3 QCF Revenues Pathway Ipswich BC

Gemma Francis Level 3 QCF Benefits Pathway Kings Lynn & West Norfolk BC

Nathan Jones NVQ in Housing and Council Tax Benefits Conwy County BC

Sam Kay Level 3 QCF Revenues Pathway Redbridge London BC

Erika Parry NVQ in Local Taxation Gwynedd Council

Paula Smart Level 3 QCF Benefits Pathway Weymouth & Portland BC

Latest vocational qualification successes

IRRV Distance Learning

E: [email protected]

T: 020 7691 8984

W: www.distancelearning.org.uk

Achieve Your Potential with IRRV Distance Learning Courses

IRRV Certificate Level 3

This course is designed for those who wish to gain a professional qualification and further their careers.

Streams available:

• Revenues and Welfare Benefits Stream

• Business Rates Stream• Valuation Tribunal Stream

Fee: £1260.00 + VAT

IRRV Professional Diploma

This course is designed for those who wish to progress to senior positions. The Professional Diploma leads to the highest level qualification, IRRV Honours.

Stream available:

• Revenues and Welfare Benefits Stream

Fee: £1410.00 + VAT

Special Offer:

3 for 2 on multiple enrolments* or 10% off individual enrolments * This offer is valid on multiple bookings with a minimum of 3 candidates.

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

The subjects on offer for Level 3 Certificate will be as follows:

• Council Tax Law• Non-Domestic Rate Law• Revenues & Local Taxation

Administration with Fraud• Welfare Benefits

Tutors: Gary Watson, Louise Freeth, Richard Pain

Fee: £1195.00 + VAT

IRRV Diploma

The 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.

Running the Institute

The Institute has recently launched a brand new version of its popular member directory.

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NEW IRRV MEMBER AND ORGANISATION DIRECTORY LAUNCHED

Annual General Meeting 2014

The 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Institute will be held on Tuesday 7 October 2014, at 5.00 pm (provisional timing), at the Telford International Centre, at the conclusion of the first day of the Institute’s Annual Conference.

The agenda for the meeting will include approving the Council’s Annual Report, approving the Accounts of the Institute, fixing annual subscriptions for 2015, and approving amendments to the Articles of Association of the Institute.

The full notice of the AGM, will be published on the Institute website (www.irrv.org.uk) from 5 September 2014.

The last version, issued in 2012, has been completed updated, and is now available online – it includes details of all members, listed by membership category, within the member’s Association. The new online version of the directory also includes details of the faculty of preference selected by members.

As an online facility, the Directory will always be current – it will be updated at least weekly.

In addition to details of individual IRRV members, the directory includes an

up to date list of organisational members, as well as a list of handy contact details for other organisations that the Institute has close associations with, for example government departments.

Key partners of the IRRV, exhibitors and sponsors are also included in the document, and the opportunity to advertise in this key publication is also available. If you want to advertise your organisation’s services in the directory, or act as a sponsor, contact [email protected].

The Executive Committee next met on 9th

March, when the minutes from the meeting held

on 26th January were agreed as being accurate.

It was reported by the Honorary Secretary that

the balance at the bankers had now risen to

£24.4/10, with £16-10-0 received in

membership subscriptions and £3.15/- in

benevolent fund donations since the last

meeting. Furthermore, three new members had

joined the Association in the past three months –

if only we could say the same today!

Accounts for the annual dinner were submitted

by the Honorary Secretary, who confirmed an

account of the proceedings had been forwarded

to some 19 newspapers. There is no record of

what coverage, if any, was given to the event.

The out of pocket expenses for the annual

dinner (having deducted the sale of tickets) were

£7.1/10. An account for payment (£12.17/-)

from Messrs Winkley & Son for printing was then

discussed, and approved for payment.

The Secretary then read a letter from Mr Cook

of St. Georges Union in which he confirmed

his willingness to serve on the Executive of

the Association. After some discussion, it was

eventually agreed a letter be sent to Mr Cook

advising that he convene a meeting of his

immediate colleagues in St Georges Union, and

of the need to choose a representative in the

usual way.

A joint communication from Messrs Coates

and Wallis (Hampstead Collectors), dated

15th February, was then read. Both gentlemen

sought the opinion of the Executive on an

order they had put forward to the Local

Government Board under Section 33 Local

Government Act 1894. In particular, they

were looking for advice on what protection

they should look to take as a result of powers

placed on rate collectors by new legislation.

It was agreed that at this time, the Executive

Committee should not offer such opinion and

the gentleman be advised accordingly.

The final item for discussion was a testimonial

to the Honorary Secretary which had been

unanimously supported at the AGM on 26th

January. It was agreed this be chargeable to the

general funds, although a committee should

be formed to take this forward. Back then, the

Association also loved a committee. How true

is the saying that “a committee is a group that keeps minutes... but loses hours”.

On 27th April the Executive Committee again

met, apologies were read, and the minutes from

the previous meeting agreed. The Honorary

Secretary stated that the balance at the bankers

was now standing at £29.19/10, with a further

£23.10/- received in membership subscriptions

and £3.10/- in benevolent fund donations since

the last meeting. A cheque on behalf of the fund

for £8 was handed to the Honorary Treasurer.

The Honorary Secretary added that five new

members had now joined the Association. It

is not clear whether this was in addition to the

three that joined earlier in the year, although the

recruitment drive was certainly proving to be

a success! A challenge here lies for all current

Associations – if they can achieve the same level

of new members in their area this year, I am

sure national Council will find a way of rewarding

them. Watch this space...

Attention then turned to the representation

for the St. Georges Union, and letters from Mr

Cook dated 12th and 22nd April were read. It

was agreed unanimously that Mr Cook be elected

for the remainder of the year. If current Institute

members share the same enthusiasm as Mr Cook

in standing for national Council, they have until

1st August 2014 to submit a nomination form.

It was also agreed that Mr Norton Cadman from

the Town Hall, Lower Edmonton, also be elected

for the Edmonton Union – whether he shared Mr

Cook’s enthusiasm in wanting to stand, we just

don’t know!

Mr Arthur White (Paddington) then introduced

a matter regarding the Superannuation Bill, notice

of which he had given prior to the meeting.

After some discussion, Mr White withdrew his

notice, and thanked the committee for their

consideration. Various notices of motion were

then put to the Executive Committee by Mr

Cook (who had just been elected, but was not in

attendance) on the uncertainty of rate collectors

under new legislation. Whilst there was support

for the spirit in which the motions had been

submitted, a decision was deferred to allow

for the enthusiastic Mr Cook to attend the

next meeting.

After the success of the annual outing in the

previous year, the Executive Committee went

on to agree a date for the event that year, this

being Saturday, 6th July. The price of each

ticket would be 17/6, with final arrangements

left in the hands of the Chairman, Vice

Chairman, Treasurer and Honorary Secretary.

Another committee... albeit a sub-committee.

The Honorary Secretary then reported that

there were several subscriptions still unpaid,

and asked to be allowed to forward a second

notice to those members who had not

subscribed, reminding them of the fact. All was

very polite, and the request was granted.

Having had his request granted, the Honorary

Secretary then reported he had received

donations to the benevolent fund from Messrs

Kelly and Wilson, although they did not desire

to subscribe to membership of the Association.

It was agreed that overtures should be made to

both gentleman, with a view of trying to entice

them to take out full membership. This was

agreed, although there is no indication from the

minute book as to what overtures were made,

and whether they resulted in full membership

being taken out.

At this point, the meeting concluded.

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

“ Back then, the Association also loved a committee. How true is the saying that “a committee is a group that keeps minutes… but loses hours.”

It’s still 1895, and the second part of Gary Watson’s latest analysis of our history continues to paint a busy picture

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It’s a funny old world

Lundy is a small island lying off the North

Devon coast. It is currently owned and managed

by the Landmark Trust, a charitable organisation

that looks after buildings of historic interest.

Lundy Island is part of the district of Torridge –

business rates and council tax are charged on

its properties, but this wasn’t always the case,

in fact at one stage, Heaven had his place on

Lundy... literally!

In 1836, Mr Heaven purchased this remote

island, three miles by one. At the time it was

classed as nowhere – it was in no county, and

for all imperial, county and municipal purposes,

it did not exist.

The following is taken from the Hartland and

West Country Chronicles of September 1906.

The Rev H G Heaven, the purchaser’s son,

described his father’s inspiration for purchasing

the island, when he said, “My father said that

in reading Robinson Crusoe as a boy he made

up his mind that he would have an island of his

Martin Reader continues his quirky tales of strange land and property with a visit to Lundy Island

Martin Reader is NNDR & Income Team Leader

with Torridge District Council. Contact him on

[email protected]

own, so he really bought it as a fad”. The island

originally cost £9,000.

The inhabitants of the island in 1906 totalled

between 30 and 40. In Mr Heaven senior’s time,

this was 400, primarily because granite quarries

were being worked. This happened for about

six years, and interestingly some of the stones

from Lundy are in fact in the foundations of

Westminster Bridge.

Rev H G Heaven came to the island at the

request of his father. “Here are all these people,

and no-one to look after their spiritual needs”,

he said. A church was subsequently built at

a cost of between £7,000 and £8,000, and

Sunday services became established.

According to the Rev Heaven, the islanders

have an enviable life. He says, “We pay no rates

or taxes, but we can call upon the government

for protection. We are attached to no parish or

union, and we have no poor. Each man has

his work to do, and all are engaged in farming,

except the postmaster, Lloyd’s man and two

fishermen. There is no license for the sale of

intoxicating drink on the island, and there is, of

course, no limit to the hours of keeping open.

Mr Taylor has the agricultural lease of the land,

and included in that lease is the sole right of

keeping store and trading on the island. There

is no compulsion upon people to send their

children to any school, and workmen are paid

so much for wages and given their cottages.

The island is rich botanically and etymologically.

Seventeen sorts of fern grow here, and we have

400 different species of beetles. There are five

sorts of gulls here. The puffins, with red beaks,

which you see in the sea round here, are called

Lundy parrots. The pasture land is exceptionally

good, especially for the sheep.”

Today, the island is popular with day trippers,

and can be reached by helicopter or boat. If any

reader is coming to North Devon on holiday

this summer, I would recommend visiting the

tranquil Lundy Island.

The Kingdom of Heaven – literally!

Twitter ChatDavid Magor OBE IRRV (Hons) will be holding a live Twitter Chat on Wednesday the 16th of July 2014 at 11.00-11.30am. The topic for discussion TBC, keep an eye on the IRRV website, Facebook Page, and Twitter for more details. If you would like to make a comment, ask a question or have your say, then please join in, using the hashtag #IRRVCHAT; you can then simply click on the hashtag to see all relevant tweets and follow the chat.

If you have any questions, or would like to register your interest; then please contact [email protected].

Don’t forget to follow the IRRV on Twitter and find us on Facebook for all the latest news and updates on the Institute.

• David Magor @DavidLMagor

• Gary Watson @GaryLWatson27

• IRRV Officer @irrv_officer

• Find us on Facebook

Editor’s welcome

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“ Welcome to the May edition of INSIGHT.”

This month, we’re emailing our membership magazine to a number of key professionals who aren’t yet members of the Institute, so if you are reading it for the first time, or if you’re an ‘occasional’ reader who sees someone else’s copy, why not join the IRRV and find out about the many other attractions of being directly involved with the organisation that represents all involved in revenues, benefits and valuation?

Our regular readers will of course be familiar with many of our contributors, who provide incisive comment and analysis – just as you would expect from those at the leading edge of their respective professions. Alistair Townsend is back with an examination of key case law involving company voluntary arrangements, and the new enforcement legislation is under the microscope of Jamie Waller and Paul Caddy. Combine that with Ibrahim Hasan’s intricate examination of freedom of information law and practice, and the practical leadership advice offered by health and wellbeing guru Mark Davies, and an increase in your knowledge base is guaranteed!

Peter Scrafton also makes a welcome return, with the first part of a critique of the application of ‘reasonable repair ’. On the lighter side, Martin Reader looks at the quirkier side of rating, and our ever-popular caption competition once again proves a hit with the readership.

With many other pages of news and views both from within and without the Institute, if you are reading this magazine courtesy of a friendly IRRV member forwarding it to you, you really can’t afford to be out of the loop, so join the Institute today and don’t miss out! Go to http://www.irrv.net/membership/index.asp for more information... but in the meantime, read on and enjoy!

What’s in the next issue... • Reports from the Keele conference week

• Rowena Hunter presents an IRRV international feature with a difference!

• The world of technology as seen through Mel Poluck’s eyes.


News and events 06



It’s a funny old world 12



Revenues roundup 15


Back offi ce processing 20

Benefi ts bulletin 25

Data sharing/FOI 26

Management 28

Scrafton’s law 30


Viewpoint 34

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Management 28

Scrafton’s law 30


Viewpoint 34


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Revenues roundup 15




Data sharing/FOI 26

Management 28

Scrafton’s law 30


Viewpoint 34


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Revenues roundup 15




Data sharing/FOI 26

Management 28

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Viewpoint 34


To book anadvertisementin Insight...telephone 0207 691 8979or email [email protected]

Why not advertise your organisation here ?

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DWP should pause implementation of SFIS

Progress is being made with the government’s

plans to transfer local authority and contracted

benefit fraud investigation staff to DWP. On

the first of this month, phase one of the Single

Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS) was due

to be implemented in nine local authority

areas (in the existing SFIS Pilot areas of

Corby, Hillingdon, Wrexham, Oldham, Cardiff,

Southampton and Cornwall, plus two new

sites in Blaenau Gwent and East Ayrshire).

The remaining pilot site, Glasgow City Council,

will delay implementation until 1st November

2014, in recognition of their focus on the

Commonwealth Games.

The House of Commons Work and

Pensions Select Committee report on fraud

and error in the benefits system report was

published in mid-May. The report included

a number of recommendations relating to

the DWP’s fraud, error and debt programme.

The Report found that SFIS is, in principle,

a good idea. However, it stated that it

makes no sense to roll out SFIS nationally,

ahead of the national implementation of

Universal Credit (UC), while local authorities

retain responsibility for housing benefit.

It recommended that the implementation

of SFIS be aligned where practicable with

the expansion of the UC pathfinder areas

and with national implementation of UC.

It further recommended that following the

summer 2014 SFIS pilots, DWP should

pause implementation of SFIS to enter into

negotiations with local government and

the relevant trade unions about a national

framework for the transfer of local authority

fraud investigations staff into the department.

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform,

considered these recommendations, and

confirmed that implementation of SFIS should

proceed as planned. So it is full steam ahead

for SFIS! All efforts are being made to ensure

the smooth transition for the phase one

delivery from 1st July, and work is ongoing

to contact and obtain relevant details in

preparation for start-up activities for phase

two areas going live in October, November

and December.

The Automatic Transfer to Local Authority

System (ATLAS) is the bespoke IT system

which provides benefit award information to

automatically update local authority systems

where there is a new award or a change in

award where a claimant is also in receipt of

housing benefit or legacy council tax benefit.

The system became fully operational in 2012

and accounts for a significant proportion

of the fraud, error and debt programme

forecast benefits.

In response to a recent shortfall against

predicted savings, and questions raised by

the Work and Pensions Select Committee

regarding ATLAS performance, a small project

team has been set up to undertake fact

finding to review the reliability of reporting and

forecast savings figures, inform likely causes of

shortfall, and provide initial recommendations

in mitigation.

The next steps in this process will see the

project team working with Housing Delivery

Division and local government to develop and

deliver an improvement plan that addresses

both benefits/savings realisation and business

process improvement.

In Scotland, the independent Expert Working

Group on Welfare has published its report,

outlining the principles that could underpin the

welfare system in an independent Scotland.

The report is designed to stimulate debate

for everyone in Scotland as they consider their

future, and the shape their welfare system

might take. The work builds on the Group’s

first report, published in June 2013, which

focused on what Scotland would inherit, and

the transitional priorities for change in the

event of independence.

The report identifies that Scotland is a wealthy

country, rich in assets. Performance relative to

the UK as a whole, its nations and regions and

other OECD countries, is strong. The amount

spent in Scotland on ‘social protection’, which

includes pensions and other welfare spending,

is lower as a share of GDP than in the UK as

a whole. It also concludes that the current

welfare system is too complex and too remote,

and it is increasingly losing the trust of both

those using the system and wider society.

The report recommends that a new system

must be fair, personal and simple, and provide

a springboard to maximise the life chances of

every individual, as well as a safety net.

There are nearly 40 recommendations for

welfare change in an independent Scotland.

Foremost is to re-establish the link between

benefit levels and the cost of living, with

benefits and tax credits being increased each

year by the Consumer Prices Index of inflation.

The current UK welfare cap on Annually

Managed Expenditure would be abolished,

and instead the report recommends that

independent Scottish governments should

report twice during their term of office to the

Parliament on the social security budget.

The report recommends the introduction

of a new Social Security Allowance (SSA). The

SSA would initially bring together a number

of existing benefits, but it would not include

housing benefit. The ‘size criteria in the social

rented sector’ (or ‘bedroom tax’ as the report

identifies it), would also be abolished.

Households would be allowed to choose

how often to receive the SSA across a month,

and who receives it, with the default being the

main carer (where this is relevant), not the

main earner.

“Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, considered these recommendations, and confirmed that implementation of SFIS should proceed as planned. So it is full steam ahead for SFIS!”

Faculty Board report

Activity for the attention of the Institute’s Benefits Faculty shows no sign of letting up, discovers Moira Hepworth

Moira Hepworth is the Institute’s

Policy and Research Manager

Valuation matters Geoff Fisher introduces another compendium of Valuers’ Association news and events Valuers’ Association Monthly Page

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Rating “Tax exemption was a privilege, not a right” – an interesting quote from

the European Court of Human Rights

(ECHR), in a decision in the rates exemption

case of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints v UK, which is summarised

in Valuation Tribunal VIP32. Rating valuers

will recognise the case as Gallagher (VO) v.CJLS church 1964 UKHL56, which went all

the way up to the House of Lords, with the

organisation claiming rating exemption for

their temples. The EHCR dismissed the claim

that the denial of rates exemption was a

breach of Article 9 of the ECHR. See: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i= 001-141369#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-141369%22]} http://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/vip_newsletter.aspx.

Valuation Tribunal President’s Guidance Notes 7-1 (Disclosure and exchange) 1st May 2014 – this is an important new

update, adding Section 11A on where a

Statement of Case has been sent to the

Tribunal but not received by the other party

– raise it with the Tribunal at the earliest

opportunity, etc. Go to: http://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/Attending_ A_Hearing/PracticeStatements.aspx.

The Upper Tribunal of the Lands Chamber determined the rating

assessment of a car showroom and

workshop in need of repair – Thomas & Davies (Merthyr Tydfil) Ltd v S J Denly VO 2014). It was concluded that

there was insufficient evidence of repair

costs, or whether a hypothetical landlord

would have considered that such costs

were economically viable. References

are the Local Government Finance Act

1988 Schedule 6 para 2(1)(b), and Court

of Appeal judgements in Morcom v Campbell-Johnson 1956 and McDougall v Easington DC 1989, as well as Saunders v Maltby VO 1977, etc.

In British Car Auctions Ltd v Hazell VO 2014 the Upper Tribunal gave an interim

decision on the rating of Blackbushe airfield,

valued on the contractor’s test basis,

with considerations of modern substitute

(including length of runway, operational area

and car park), and allowances for disabilities

at Stage 5. The Rating Diploma Conference

on 18th September 2014 will be considering

this case, and the use of the contractor’s

method, as well as ‘valuing add-ons’, use of

turnover information, and the usual round-up

of other recent Tribunal cases.

The Rating Surveyors’ Association (RSA) Annual Report/AGM notes are now

on the RSA web page. See: http://www.ratingsurveyorsassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=39.

Dates for your 2014 diary... 3rd – 4th September:

IRRV Scottish Conference

18th September:

Rating Diploma Holders’ Conference

7th – 8th October:

IRRV Annual Conference,including Valuer Day

23rd October :

RSA Guest Dinner

28th November:

Rating Diploma Holders’ lunch

and AGM

General practiceThe base valuation date for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is now 32 years on! In

the Upper Tribunal case of N C Chakravorty

v HM Revenues & Customs 2014, District

Valuer Martin Single had the unenviable task

of giving expert evidence and valuation of a Paddington house as at 31st March 1982, following a 2002 disposal. The legal

interest to be valued was a half share in

a lease with an unexpired term of three

years, and the leaseholder had purchased

the freehold in September 1982 (freehold

disposed of in 2003). The market value

for CGT statutorily defined by case law can

include Special Value (unlike Red Book ‘market value’) so in this case ‘marriage

value’ was considered at length. A 10% allowance made for half share was

supported by St Clair-Ford v HMRC 2005 and Newham HMofT v Hart 2000.

Olympic legacy and new East LondonThe IRRV London and Home Counties Association held a New East London and Olympic Legacy tour event in May,

led by Past President Geoff Fisher, which

started at the O2 Arena, crossed the Thames

via cable cabin to the Excel Centre, then

DLR to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,

where Senior Vice President Kevin Stewart

navigated the Olympic Legacy, including the

Aquatic Centre, Mittal Tower, Copper Box

and Velodrome.

Valuation matters

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TEGoVA in the news againAt the recent round of meetings held by The European Group of Valuers’ Associations

(TEGoVA), long-standing friend of the IRRV

Krzysztof Grzesik was elected Chairman.

Krzysztof, of the Polish Federation of Valuers’ Associations, will lead Europe’s

representative real estate valuation body,

with its 59 member valuation associations

representing 70.000 valuers in 32 countries.

His immediate priority will be to assist

governments in developing reliable national

valuation standards for mortgage lending

based on European Valuation Standards

(EVS) as specified by the EU Mortgage Credit

Directive and favoured by the European

Central Bank.

Krzysztof takes over as Chairman of the

TEGoVA Board from IRRV Immediate Past

President Roger Messenger, who will

continue as Vice Chairman with special

responsibility for overseeing and developing

TEGoVA’s Recognised European Valuer

qualification which has already attracted over

2300 of Europe’s top valuation professionals.

He is a chartered surveyor, Polish qualified

valuer and a Recognised European Valuer

(REV), with over 35 years’ experience as a

property consultant in the UK and mainland

Europe. In the UK he first worked for several

years as a valuation surveyor at the UK

government’s Valuation Office, and then as a

partner of Kinney & Green, chartered surveyors

in the City of London.

In 1991 he set up the real estate services

arm of Price Waterhouse in Poland and

was also involved in agency and property

consultancy work in the Czech Republic,

Hungary and Russia. In 1997 he joined Healey

& Baker (Cushman & Wakefield) as a partner,

and in 2000 he became managing partner

of King Sturge Poland. In 2004, Krzysztof

established property valuation and advisory

firm Polish Properties Sp. z.o.o. in Warsaw.

Krzysztof is also a past chairman of RICS

Europe, and former chairman of the RICS

Continental Europe Standards Board. He is

the International Representative of the Polish

Federation of Valuers’ Associations (PFVA)

and sits on the Polish Valuation Standards

Commission.

John R. Frederiksen, President of the

European Property Federation, said “In

Brussels, TEGoVA has become a key partner

with the property industry in setting the EU

agenda for real estate. We look forward to

continuing this under Krzysztof Grzesik’s

leadership.”

The other Board members elected by delegates

at TEGoVA’s General Assembly in Oslo on

16th May are Silvia Cappelli (ASSOVIB –

Association of Property Valuation Companies

for the Banking Sector, Italy), Jean-François Drouets (AFREXIM – French Association of

Property Valuation Companies), Wolfgang Kälberer (vdp – Association of German

Pfandbrief Banks), Danijela Ilic (NAVS –

National Association of Valuers of Serbia),

Konstantinos Pallis (AVAG – Association of

Greek Valuers) and Adrian Vascu (ANEVAR –

National Association of Romanian Valuers).

You can find out more about TEGoVA by

visiting www.tegova.org.

Real estate in EuropeReaders are invited to check out ‘Property EU ’, an online publication which provides a

daily newsletter service detailing the latest

European real estate news, including deals,

company developments, fairs and conferences,

as well as the views of the leading decision

makers from around Europe.

There is a also a magazine featuring in-

depth interviews, ground-breaking research,

analysis and rankings of the leading European

real estate companies in a comprehensive

magazine that appears eight times a year,

together with regular investment briefings,

ongoing research information yearly special

reports and networking tools. You can find

more information by logging on to http://www.propertyeu.info/.

Valuation Tribunal activity to the fore once again

Go to www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/ListingsAndDecisions.aspx for more key

decisions from the Valuation Tribunal for England. Amongst the recent decisions are

two key hearings dealing with the Council

Tax Class C exemption – J.C. (Appellant) v

Shropshire Council and R.Q (Appellant) v

London Borough of Bromley.

The Tribunal Service is also keen to make

readers aware of new President’s Guidance

on two important issues. The first document

tackles the composition and format of

bundles for the Tribunal (PGN1), and the

second deals with whether Statements of Case are public documents (PGN2).

You can view the documents on http://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/Attending_A_Hearing/RegistrarsGuidance.aspx.

Maureen Neave MBA IRRV (Tech) is

Benefits Manager with Vale of Glamorgan

Council, and an IRRV Council member16

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Benefits bulletin

implementation are expected. DWP has since

announced that the completion date has

moved to 2018.

The IT system still remains an issue,

with manual interfaces and manual support

still required. The DWP now has a twin-track approach to IT, where they are still

developing the existing system, on which the

government intends to spend between £37

and £58 million. At the same time, the DWP

is working on a new web-based end-state solution which is supposedly based on open

standards, which is yet to be tested on the

first 100 claimants. Anne Begg stated that

given the small number of people currently

claiming UC, the government should consider

whether it would be better use of taxpayers’

money to abandon further development of the

existing system and focus solely on the new

end of state solution. The Committee stated

that there is still worrying uncertainty with

UC, as IT systems remain a problem. It has

been reported that millions of pounds have

already been wasted, and with the numbers

claiming UC, it is so far costing an astonishing

£161,905 per person!

UC seems to be plagued with problems. It

has been reported that on 25 April 2014 an

information tribunal judge has unexpectedly

refused consent for the DWP to appeal the

ruling that four reports on the UC programme

can be published. The ruling undermines the

DWP’s claim that there would be a ‘chilling effect ’ if the reports were published. It

rejected the DWP’s claim that disclosure

would inhibit the candour and boldness of civil

servants who contributed to the reports. The

judge’s decision means the DWP will have to

publish the reports under the FOI Act, or it has

28 days to appeal the judge’s refusal to grant

consent for an appeal. Judge David Farrer QC

says his tribunal has understood the ‘chilling effect ’, but found no evidence that it was

relevant to the four reports in question. Indeed

the judge implies that if the chilling effect

Who gets the credit?

As I write this article, Universal Credit (UC)

sees its first anniversary, with Shotton the last

of the scheduled pathfinders going live. There

has not been any expansion on the client

group – it is still the very simplest of new

JobSeekers’ Allowance (JSA) claims, from

single new unemployed claimants without

any children who would have formally made

a straight forward JSA claim. Housing benefit

must not be in payment, and they must not

be in receipt of any other benefits. They must

already have a national insurance number, a

bank account, and cannot have capital over

£6,000 – and they cannot be a home owner

but can have housing costs, although only

rent... the list goes on and on!

Looking at the UC statistics reported in

March 2014, only 4,280 people have claimed

UC as at 31 December 2013, and it is stated

that around seven out of ten people were aged

under 25, with the higher proportion being

male claimants. DWP have always stated that

roughly 10% of this total would be claiming

housing costs, so this would be roughly 428

housing cost claims that would have been HB

claims. Personally, I think the housing cost

claims are lower because whenever DWP are

asked, they can never give a definite total.

Ann Begg MP, Chairperson of The Work and Pensions Select Committee stated

that the low figure demonstrates the scale of

challenges still facing the government in trying

to implement UC when you compare the UC

total to the 1.22million people claiming JSA for

the same period. She went on further to say

that “whilst it is right to ensure that the system

works properly before extending it,” but she

criticised the DWP for the “slow progress when

ministers promised one million people would

be on UC by April 2014”. She added, “there is

a difference between cautious progress and

a snail’s pace. Given the excruciatingly slow

pace of roll-out to date, it is hard to see how

the most recent implementation timetable

can be met,” suggesting that further delays in

existed, there would be evidence of it. The

tribunal said reports such as the risk register and project assessment review are

important indicators of the state of a project.

Their disclosure can give the public a chance

to test whether ministers and civil servants are

giving out correct information on the state of

a project.

Finally, is the DWP looking for yet another new leader for the project? It has been

reported that certain people have been

approached to see if they are interested in

becoming the leader of UC. It has also been

reported that Howard Shiplee, the fifth

Director General for the UC project, was off

sick earlier this year for several weeks, and he

is still quite ill and not back working full time.

Apparently the DWP insists there are no plans

for him to step down, and there were further

plans for expansion of the welfare reforms to

take place in the summer, on which he would

lead. But can the DWP be trusted to tell us the

truth when they consistently denied there

were any problems with UC? It was only after

the damning National Audit Office report that they admitted there were problems.

If Howard Shiplee were forced to step down,

it would not be good for the project, as it has

been plagued with problems from the start,

and he has barely been in the position for

one year.

“It has been reported that millions of pounds have already been wasted, and with the numbers claiming UC, it is so far costing an astonishing £161,905 per person!”

Maureen Neave returns, and provides more evidence that all is not well with the implementation of Universal Credit

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Once is enoughIn the October 2013 issue of the IRRV’s

Benefit magazine, we told you about the award

winning Tell Us Once (TUO) service my

team are delivering, that enables customers to

report a birth or death just once to local and

central government.

Since then we have welcomed a number

of new local authorities on board, delivering

the bereavement service, including Kingston

upon Thames, Islington, North Somerset

and Wandsworth. This means that 369 local

authorities are now offering the service, and

over 88% of the population have access to it.

As well as working with new partners joining

the service, we have been working with our

existing partners to look at how we deliver an

even better, improved service. We have made

a significant enhancement to the bereavement

service in Scotland through the integration

of the Forward Electronic Registration (FER), used by Registrars in Scotland, and

the TUO Change Reporting System (CRS).

This improvement removes the need for

Registrars to re-key information used in death

registrations, and so makes the reporting

process quicker and more efficient. This

initiative was the result of enormous effort

by colleagues across the TUO partnership,

National Records for Scotland (NRS) and

IT suppliers, and was only made possible

through successful partnership working to

deliver and test the functionality together.

Following its introduction, we have received

a great deal of very positive feedback:

“I certainly found it very handy not having to

input duplicate information into your screens

following the registration process, and I’m

sure for the bereaved families it must help

not having to sit waiting for us to input the

same data.”

“We’ve been using it since day one, and

most of the staff have carried out death

registrations since the launch, so they’ve all

used it successfully. Needless to say they

are very pleased it has arrived, and as we

all expected, it’s speeding up the closing

stages of a registration, cutting out the time

consuming and morale eroding duplication of

data entry.”

“We think the system is great – it really is

a boost.”

Last summer, TUO achieved the significant

milestone of having helped over half a million

customers. The service continues to grow, and

around 850,000 customers have now used

the service, and we expect to celebrate our

millionth customer later this year. The online

channel is growing in popularity – 15% of

customers now opt to use this channel.

The TUO telephony team has also reached

a significant milestone. They recently handled

their 250,000th call, which is a fantastic

landmark. A customer who recently used the

telephony service said, “Excellent service –

thank you so much for your professionalism

and kindness”. Howard Broadway, a Team

Leader at the TUO Telephony Team since its

inception, said, “This milestone has provided

real job satisfaction for staff on the team, who

can see what a positive impact our advice has

on citizens at a time when they really need

our help.”

We are also looking at how we can raise

awareness of the service to ease the burden

on families, and have been talking to ‘End of Life Care’ (EOLC) providers to see how we

can reach these citizens. We have attended

some recent EOLC events, and Chris O’Brien,

one of our TUO Account Managers, said,

“We are really pleased to be engaging with a

wide range of stakeholders in this field to see

how we can link up key services, thus ensuring

citizens and families are able to make plans at

the right time”.

A session was recently designed for

agents at the Nottingham County Council

Customer Service Centre to increase their

awareness of TUO, and to pass on some best

practice suggestions as to how customers

might be made more aware of the service, and

therefore better prepared to take it up at the

registration appointment. The session was a

great success, and the information was shared

with the Registration Service at their area

team meetings, which also gave the teams the

opportunity to discuss how TUO is operating

in their authority.

Take up of TUO within Nottinghamshire

has increased by around 6% as a result of

this activity. Justine Nixon, Senior Advisor at

the Customer Service Centre, said, “Feedback

from the advisors has been positive and they

have got a much clearer understanding of

the TUO process”. Ian Gillott, TUO Account

Manager for Nottingham added, “This is very

helpful, and shows that we are continuing to

work closely with our partners to ensure our

service runs smoothly as possible when the

customer wants to use it.”

Our main priority for the year ahead is

to ensure the service runs effectively. This

includes our bereavement customer journey, starting from the point before a

death occurs, and following it through the

process to notifications being issued to the

relevant services, and action taken by them.

We are using this journey to identify where the

customer may drop out of the TUO journey,

and what we can do to prevent this happening,

as ultimately we all want the customer to have

the best experience at a difficult time.

If you would like to discuss the service

with me or any elements of my article, please

do not hesitate to email me at [email protected] .

Diane Leggo BSc MRICS IRRV (Hons)

(previously an IRRV Council Member and

Director Council Tax at the VOA) is Head of

Tell Us Once Delivery Partnerships

DWP focus

Diane Leggo invites readers to share in the success that is the DWP’s Tell Us Once project

?

STOP PRESS: 80% of older people in England and Wales hold a Concessionary Travel pass. The Tell Us Once service has been expanded to enable bereaved families to notify the appropriate services more quickly that these passes are no longer required.

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Cover story

adults (aged 16 and over) had never used the

internet at quarter one 2014.

The impact of the quality of the UC

service on the health and wellbeing of

individuals, households and families, on

the needs of people with mental illness,

physical disability, or people fleeing

domestic violence, the impact on children

and the potential to add to their financial

insecurity, makes the quality of that service

a critical issue for local authorities. But a

quality local UC service is also a critical part

of preventative strategies in a wide range of

social policy areas that impact on expenditure

by local public services, including health,

police and local government . The first key test of the success of the

transition from the existing benefits structure

to UC will be whether the claimant sees a

seamless experience.

The application process must be user centric and based on individual choice.

Individual claimants who wish to apply and

manage their UC claim online should be

able to do so. They will complete the online

application form and electronically submit

their claim. Staff at the national UC centre

will then assess the claim and identify

the documents required, and any further

questions raised by the application.

But all the evidence suggests that a

significant proportion of claimants will need

and would prefer an alternative application

process. UC applicants should be able to

choose to apply at their local ‘Universal Credit Centre’. They would use the skills,

expertise and experience of the 20,000 staff

currently employed by local authorities or their

contractors delivering housing and council tax

support. They are ideally suited to fulfil this

role. Individual claimants will be familiar with

local housing benefit offices. Staff will know

existing claimants and their claimant histories,

and the needs of disabled people and others

who may have difficulty with the process of

Will transactingonline be justwishful thinking?

Localism has been one of the central

themes of this coalition government, but the

debate about how it should play a part in the

way Universal Credit (UC) is delivered has

been missing.

In this article I want to argue that local

government now has a new opportunity not

only to influence the UC service, but also,

at the same time, to enhance the role that

local government plays in the lives of the

people it serves.

After accepting that the IT systems that

support the four Pathfinder sites cannot be

rolled out nationally, the government has been

forced to redesign the IT that supports UC.

Such is the failure, that the Major Projects Authority has ‘reset’ UC, and says a new

project has been started.

In the coming months, it will be piloting

the new IT infrastructure in 12 local authority

areas in the north-west of England. New out

of work applicants with families and with

children will be gradually included and the

system tested. At the same time there is rising

recognition that the ‘digital by default ’ service delivery model, and the assumption

that everyone would wish to and be able to

undertake their UC transactions online, is now

recognized as simply wishful thinking. The

latest ONS statistics show that 6.4 million

applying can be addressed.

The local ‘Universal Credit Centre’ would

be a local authority facility to ensure full

geographic coverage (DWP premises do not

even exist in every local authority). Ideally, to

make the transfer seamless, it would be the

same location that people currently use if they

wish to apply for housing benefit or council tax support.

The local centre would provide a range of

services. It would be a place where:

• people could apply for UC (either by

completing an application form, completing

an online application themselves, or

complete the form (on paper or at a

computer terminal) with support from a

trained UC adviser

• people could bring documents that are

required to start a claim to be scanned and

verified. Documents would be scanned into

the system and processed locally, or they

would be assisted to complete the form

(on paper or at a computer terminal) by a

member of staff

• people could report a change of

circumstances and bring the necessary

documentation for scanning into the system

and verification

• people could get advice about their claim

and their entitlements, problems with

payments, and opt for payment direct

• staff could liaise with and provide support to

landlords, and mediate between tenants and

private landlords where rent payment arrears

develop, and intervene to prevent eviction

• a home visiting service would be provided

to claimants that are unable to access the

centre or complete an application online.

The local human element of this process is

the critical factor to ensuring the quality of

service delivery.

But the second key test is how the

service can adapt to the changing needs

and circumstances of local people. 30 years

“The application process must be user centric and based on individual choice. Individual claimants who wish to apply and manage their UC claim online should be able to do so.”

Insight newcomer Pete Challis presents a powerful case for total local authority involvement in Universal Credit delivery

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ago, pioneering local authorities developed

welfare rights services. The task today is

different and more comprehensive. The

local UC centre would not just assist people

to apply and maintain their UC application,

resolve problems, and ensure that people are

getting the benefits that they are entitled to.

It would also provide a range of other critical

services, such as access to debt advice,

personal financial skills development, assisting

claimants establish appropriate banking

arrangements through local credit unions,

managing energy bills, a local authority

lettings agency service for the private rented

sector, access local labour schemes or

childcare, to support a return to employment

or increased hours.

The challenge for central government is to

make their localism mantra ‘real’, and not just

a political ‘sound bite’, and recognise that

the local UC centre is central to the delivery

of the national changes they seek. Central

government must enable local authorities

to innovate and create new wrap around

services. It will mean providing financial

resources, but the payback in avoiding

additional costs to central government

could be significant. The challenge for local

government today is to recognise the strategic

significance of UC, how the associated

services could make local government more

relevant to their citizens, and the opportunity

that the ‘reset ’ presents.

Local UC centres will assist councils

to meet local housing need (and reduce

homelessness costs). The evidence suggests

that private landlords are increasingly

reluctant to let to people in receipt of

housing benefit, as the introduction of UC

is accompanied by payment direct to the

tenant, and landlords are concerned about

growth in rent arrears. Local authority housing

benefit sections already have well established

arrangements with landlords locally, and

will intervene to resolve disputes, prevent

evictions and subsequent homelessness that

may also result in an additional cost to the

local authority. These potential additional

costs are substantial.

HMRC and RTIThe UC calculation is informed by Real Tine Information (RTI) data supplied by

employers to HMRC. It is possible that the UC

calculation will be inaccurate due to errors

made by the employer. HMRC is closing their

walk-in centres. The source of a query raised

by a claimant may rest with the RTI data. A

claimant will need to be able to access support

and advice, and resolving queries that relate

to RTI data may be another role that the local

UC centre could play.

Supporting choiceUNISON believes that important changes

are needed to give people choice and

make it easier for people to manage their

finances, prevent rent arrears and potential

homelessness, ensure women are equal

financial partners, encourage private landlords

to rent properties to people in receipt of UC,

and promote the interests of children. Three

choices are needed:

• choice of fortnightly or monthly payments

• choice of payment of the housing element

directly to landlords or automatic direct

payment to landlords

• choice of split payments between members

of ‘the household’.

Preventing fraud Successfully preventing fraud has been a

critical issue for UC. Local authority staff

already verify documents. The local UC

centre should be a place where documents

can be verified. Local people who may

be reluctant to put valuable documents

in the post will be able to take original

documentation and have it verified and

scanned onto the system.

A people-based local service element as

an integral part of the service delivery model

also provides the opportunity to re-establish a

national system of support for council tax, and

the opportunity to integrate local council tax

support into UC at some future date.

This article is written to stimulate debate.

It has not considered important issues such

as integrated working between DWP and

LAs to support people into work, the role

of the voluntary sector, financing (although

housing benefit administration subsidy could

morph into UC administration subsidy), the

IT infrastructure needed, or the protocols and

security requirements that are necessary to

secure local service integration.

“ The challenge for local government today is to recognize the strategic significance of UC, how the associated services could make local government more relevant to their citizens, and the opportunity that the ‘reset’ presents.”

Join the debate!As Pete says, his article is here to stimulate

debate. If you have something to say about

the delivery of Universal Credit, contact the

Editor on [email protected],

or join the debate on the Facebook and

Twitter – see page 3 for details.

Pete Challis is a National Officer in the

Local Government and Housing Section

of UNISON

IRRV Annual Scottish Conference & Exhibition


T: 01382 456029

W: www.irrvscotland.org.uk

Crieff Hydro Hotel, 3 – 4 September 2014

Scotland’s Public Services – Building on Innovation

The Institute is delighted to announce details of its 2014 Scottish Conference. The Conference is – by popular demand – returning to the Crieff Hydro Hotel, where conference attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy the excellent recreational facilities set in beautiful surroundings.

The theme of this year’s Conference – “Scotland’s Public Services – Building on Innovation” – comes at an important time for Scotland and will look in-depth at the key issues facing the public services, with particular emphasis on valuation, benefits and revenues issues. In addition to delivering key updates on the big issues and encouraging debate about these, conference will also examine the improved delivery of Scottish public services in a time of financial challenges and will examine how to provide quality services and continuous improvement into the future.

Overall Sponsor:

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The first 30 days of the new regulations have been very positive...On 6th April 2014, the Taking of Goods Regulations came into force. Considering

the very late notice from government on key

areas such as transitional arrangements, and

the implications of vital aspects including the

charging of VAT, councils and enforcement

agencies have risen to the challenge and

mobilised the new arrangements relatively

smoothly. Bearing in mind the significant

changes required to both council and agency

systems, processes and budgets, this has been

quite an achievement.

Although it is still early days, we are already

beginning to see the positive impact of the

new regulations. As a result of agencies being

correctly incentivised to collect more revenue

earlier, the combination of greater investment

in data and tracing, intensified efforts in early

collections initiatives such as more letters,

outbound calling and text messaging, and

the simplified fees structure, we can already

evidence increase collections at compliance

stage, moving towards projections of 40

to 50%.

With nearly all registered complaints under

the old regulations having arrived because

the debtor did not understand the complex

fee structure, we have noticed a significant reduction in complaints received, these

having already dropped by 25%.

Client councils are changing their

specifications to make use of the new

additional benefits afforded by the new

regulations, such as allowing agencies to

operate their compliance and enforcement

activities seven days a week.

However, although we have already seen

some positives from the new regulations,

the next 90 days will really show the true

value of the legislation and what creditors,

debtors and enforcement agencies can expect

of the future.

We expect to collect greater revenue for

clients overall, with increased efficiency

and reduced council and agency resource

requirements, due to 50% fewer complaints

and 60% less enforcement activity. Debtors

will incur far less fees and costs due to the

reduced enforcement, with multiple cases

receiving only one compliance fee, and

standard fees for sale and removal of goods.

There will also be the development of

much closer working relationships between

councils and their enforcement agency

providers, based on partnership working and

greater transparency.

The need for agencies to use their technology,

tracing, and data analytics capabilities is vital.

This supports our clients further, focusing

efforts and sharing data and insight for the

benefit of all. There is a greater requirement to

support clients with validating and sharing data

both ways, to enrich the collective outcomes

of our efforts.

We expect to operate in a far more open

and transparent way with clients. Our

technology, systems and processes need

to be fully open and accessible to clients to

enable clear performance management, and

to evidence our actions, for instance providing

evidence of proof of postage of all letters

online to clients.

We have noticed enhanced reporting requirements from client councils, requiring

new performance metrics and management

information, for instance to provide greater

detail on the time taken to collect debts

at different stages, collections curves, and

other data traditionally more akin to private

sector consumer debt collection activities.

I welcome greater transparency and depth

of management information, as a means to

demonstrate and drive real performance of

agencies and the true impact of our new

industry regulations.

In the longer term, we envisage a greater

requirement from client councils to work in

partnership with the council, perhaps other

partner councils through shared services,

commissioned outsource partners, and other

enforcement agencies, together to generate

innovation and operational efficiencies in how

our overall services are delivered together.

So in summary, despite the challenges of

implementation, together we have made a

great start since 6th April, and can already

see the benefits of the regulations to client

councils and their communities. But we also

can see that it is only the beginning. In the

coming months we have a great opportunity to

work together more effectively to drive greater

performance earlier in the process, reduce

complaints, and reduce costs to debtors

though transparency and partnership working.

Jamie Waller is CEO of JBW Group

Collection & enforcement

...says Jamie Waller,but the next 90 will bethe real test

“With nearly all registered complaints under the old regulations having arrived because the debtor did not understand the complex fee structure, we have noticed a significant reduction in complaints received, these having already dropped by 25%.”

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Pre-pack controversyWhy are pre-packs controversial? The main

criticisms of pre-packs are:

1. A lack of transparency. Unsecured

creditors often do not realise that a pre-

pack is going to happen, and so have no

opportunity to protect their interests by

considering and voting on the pre-pack

proposal (secured creditors must be

involved, because they need to consent to

the release of their security).

2. A lack of accountability. The Insolvency

Act 1986 does not expressly provide for

pre-packs. This means that administrators

involved in pre-packs do not have to

obtain prior approval for their actions from

creditors or the court in the same way as

they would in a normal administration.

3. Pre-packs do not maximise returns for unsecured creditors. The value of a

business or its assets could be destroyed

if its financial dif f iculties are leaked. As a

result, it is impossible for an administrator

to test the market fully. This means that

businesses or assets which are sold by

way of a pre-pack are usually sold with

limited marketing, compared with a

normal administration.

4. Pre-packs are similar to the outlawed practice of creating ‘phoenix’ companies. This practice involved a

company being put into liquidation by its

management, before the same business

re-emerged trading as a new ‘phoenix’

company, but without the debts of the

old company. Creditors tend to be most

suspicious about pre-packs when the

business is sold back to the original owners.

This is seen as allowing management to

‘asset strip’ a company or ‘ditch’ its

debts. Under the pre-pack guidelines,

administrators have to disclose to creditors

the name of the buyer, and whether there is

any connection between the buyer and the

company (see below and SIP 16 guidance).

Here’s one I made earlier!

A short anecdote to start with – I was recently

involved in a highly contested application in

the High Court to ‘force’ the administrator to

call an ‘initial meeting of creditors’, and

rather outrageously they opposed it!

Nine months later, and the High Court

agreed that our application should succeed,

and whilst I cannot comment on the very

recent ‘initial meeting of creditors’ for

confidentiality reasons, needless to say the

majority of all independent creditors were

HMRC and a vast number of local authorities

(re unpaid business rates).

Quite why the administrator should so

vociferously oppose that application is still

baffling, as they were entirely grateful for our

plethora of questions at the meeting! It is fair

to say that this particular matter will rumble on

into the next proposed application, this time

to remove the current administrator (soon

to be liquidator) from office, and appoint a

completely independent liquidator, moving

forward to investigate numerous issues.

What is a ‘pre-pack’?That aside, I shall explain below the

typical issues surrounding ‘pre-packs’.

A ‘pre-pack ’ is the name given to a

pre-arranged sale by a company in

administration of its business or assets (or

both) that completes either immediately

upon the appointment of the administrator, or

shortly after the administrators are appointed.

This reverses the standard process, where the

administrators commence the marketing of the

business after their appointment.

5. The proposed administrator has an inherent conflict of interest. The

proposed administrator is often introduced

to the company by its directors in the

context of a proposal that the business

or assets of the company be sold back to

them. If he wants to be appointed as the

company’s administrator, he will have

an inherent preference for the proposed

pre-pack.

6. Writing-off liabilities using a pre-pack is a short-term fix. A pre-pack doesn’t

subject the company to a restructuring,

which is often necessary if the business is to

survive in the long term.

Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 (SIP 16)SIP 16 sets out required practice for insolvency

practitioners who are engaged on a ‘pre-packaged sale’, including administrators.

There is clear controversy over the use

of pre-packs, due in part to the perception

that they allow directors to sell a company’s

valuable assets to an interested party,

without proper marketing, and with little or no

warning to the company’s unsecured creditors.

Accordingly, the guidelines in SIP 16 are

intended to assist the transparency of the

process of executing a pre-pack sale in an

administration, from the perspective of the

company’s unsecured creditors. It is important

to note that, despite the controversy,

pre-packs remain a legitimate tool for a

corporate restructuring.


Do not accept everything you see on face value, warns Matthew Whyatt, as he tackles ‘pre-pack administrations’

“This reverses the standard process, where the administrators commence the marketing of the business after their appointment.”

“It is important to note that, despite the controversy,

pre-packs remain a legitimate tool for a corporate restructuring.”

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In my last ‘Revenues Roundup’, published

in the May edition of Insight, I gave some

solace to practitioners that the ‘Certain Exhibition’ case had not affected Debt Relief Orders (DROs) , as ‘contingent liabilities’ were not considered by the

Insolvency Service to be provable debts for

the purposes of DROs.

Unfortunately, I now also have to

take this small comfort away! The

Insolvency Service has very recently

adjusted its guidance once again, to state

that they do now consider contingent

liabilities to be provable in DROs. The

only up side to this is that in considering

an application, any intermediary would

have to bear in mind that having relieved

themselves of the requirement to pay

council tax for the remainder of the year,

they would have increased their available

monthly income and their eligibility to a

DRO in the first place.

Alistair Townsend FIRRV MCMI is

Revenues and Benefits Service Delivery

Manager with Milton Keynes Service

Partnership and a member of the IRRV’s

national Council

Matthew Whyatt is a Senior Associate

in the Corporate Recovery and Insolvency

Team at JMW solicitors LLP. Contact him

on [email protected] or

0161 828 1831

Key provisions requiring practitioners acting

on a pre-packaged sale in an administration

are to:

• keep a detailed record of the reasons why a

pre-packaged sale has been chosen as the

best course of action for creditors

• make it clear to the directors of the company

that they have been appointed to advise

the company, and not the directors on their

personal positions, where that is the case

• encourage the directors of the company to

take independent advice, in particular if any

of the directors proposes to acquire assets in

the sale

• demonstrate that they have either performed

their functions in the interests of the

company’s creditors as a whole (paragraph 3(2), Schedule B1, Insolvency Act 1986), or avoided unnecessarily harming

the interests of creditors as a whole when

realising property to distribute to secured or

preferential creditors (paragraphs 3(1)(c) and 3(4), Schedule B1, Insolvency Act 1986)

• make a detailed narrative explanation and

justification of the pre-pack, with disclosure

of specific information to creditors, including:

– the identity of the buyer of the business

or assets

– details of any valuations of the business

or underlying assets obtained

– alternative courses of action considered

by the administrator and reasons for not

pursuing them

– the consideration of the sale and the terms

of payment, broken down under valuation

categories; and

– any connection between the buyer and the

directors, former directors, shareholders or

secured creditors of the company.

ConclusionIf you are uncertain about any of the

information provided above, or need some

case-specific input/advice regarding a pre-

pack, then it would be a prudent creditor that

acts fast.

This is mainly due to being given eight clear

business days to file the form 2.21B to call

an initial meeting of creditors, otherwise the

proverbial boat will have been missed. That

said, our recent application to extend this

timeframe (on very reasonable grounds) was

granted by the High Court, and so acting fast

is key.

This is not always the end of the line –

however I would stress that involving a lawyer

earlier in the process will always result in a

clear and focussed strategy.


A message from Alistair Townsend...

Alan Murdie is a Barrister24

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Legal view

by legislators... or those briefing Lord Bach.

Ultimately, what put paid to both forced entry to domestic dwellings and force against a person was not legal argument but

publicity arising from a Sunday Times article in

December 2008. Readers – including some of

those who had put the 1997 Blair government

in power – protested at the idea of some New

Labour ‘debt collecting gestapo’. The plans

were hastily dropped by the government,

and the issue left alone until the arrival of the

coalition in 2010.

The last four years has seen more ministers

and officials coming and going, but often with

the same faces appearing at specialist interest

and lobbying meetings. Finally, the coalition

has crystallised fifteen years of discussion and

debate into regulations. That this has happened

under minister Chris Grayling,

who knows less about the law than any of

his predecessors – is this perhaps symbolic, and

a warning?

The new regulations are derived from

Schedule 12 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and have sensibly

maintained the status quo on peaceful entry to

domestic homes. Exempt goods are clarified –

Goodbye to all that?

The case of campaigners against the draconian

powers of the Act was strengthened by an

incident in January 2008, when a 78 year old

man in Accrington died after a visit from bailiffs

collecting a traffic fine. Even though

no blame was attached, it did not look good for

the planned regulations, which had also been

met by vocal complaints from middle class

motorists hit by wheel-clamping.

The government was thus forced to grant a

hearing to campaigners, but even after ten

years of the reform process, it was clear little

had been learned.

To give one instance, I recall discussing the

proposed powers under the Act at a meeting

in 2008, with Lord Bach for the government,

and seven of his civil servants and legal

advisers. I was not taken with Lord Bach’s

grasp of realities of distress or his team’s

understanding of the law. On the question of

using force against debtors, Lord Bach asked

of a bailiff repossessing a car, “why should

he not have the power to gently lift off some

person who drapes himself over the bonnet?”

I then asked what would happen if the

debtor got back on the car bonnet again?

Lord Bach declared the bailiff would again

remove him! “And so how many times does this

cat-and-mouse game continue?” I asked. Lord

Bach, prompted by one of his advisers, pointed

out that the bailiff could call the police –

obstruction of a bailiff was an offence under

the 2007 Act. I then pointed out that whilst

obstructing a bailiff was indeed an offence

under the Act, “the government had not made

it an arrestable offence.” Accordingly, with the

debtor’s name and particulars being known,

with the incident likely to be occurring on

private land, and resistance involving no breach

of the peace or a threat to a child, a constable

might well have to restrain his/her powers to

arrest such a debtor. In fact, a police constable

might be well within the exercise of his/her

discretion to do nothing whatsoever in such a

civil dispute. This anomaly had not been spotted

not that anyone seriously believes seizure and

sale of non-exempt goods will ever pay. Times

of levies and notice provisions in the process are

set out. Further details on training, complaints

and the administration of enforcement are due

in October.

Whether this system will work and how

it will square with existing procedures for

levying distress for council tax contained

in the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 SI 613

remains to be seen. A potential problem

is foreseeable, depending upon just what

exactly a billing authority has hired and

instructed its enforcement agents to do. If

everything that an enforcement agent can

now do is tightly controlled, just how much

of a fiduciary role can a local authority

actually delegate? Looking closely at the

Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement)

Regulations 1992 SI 613, all that a bailiff or

enforcement agent is empowered to do is

levy distress against a debtor’s goods. They

are not empowered to act as negotiators or

debt assessors, and certainly not empowered

to make financial decisions on repayment

agreements which affect the rate of recovery

to the instructing authority. Any authority

may be acting unlawfully if it turns away a

debtor seeking to pay, or tendering payment

of the debt directly, and if telling the debtor

that payment is only possible through an

enforcement company.

These and other issues look set to arise

as the new system comes into operation. It

will be also interesting to see how the new

enforcement agents present themselves in

practice. I note that from their exhibition stands

at recent IRRV events that some enforcement

firms believe in handing out cuddly toys!

The first part of Alan’s article appeared in the

June edition of Insight.

“If everything that an enforcement agent can now do is tightly controlled, just how much of a fiduciary role can a local authority actually delegate?”

The long march of bailiff law reform may at last be coming to a close, exclaims Alan Murdie, in the last of his two part examination of this critical process

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Reflecting on a valued careerI started work in 1950 under the pupilage of

Isaac Dixon, a well respected rating surveyor

and active Honorary Member of the Rating

and Valuation Association, and his partner

Myles Richardson (President 1961/62). Both

had been in local government with West

Derby Assessment Committee, responsible for

preparation and maintenance of the valuation

list in Liverpool and its environs.

The Local Government Act 1948

transferred responsibility for rating valuation to

the Inland Revenue (IR) Valuation Office

– a new department, unlike the then separate

and long established District Valuer’s Office,

mainly responsible for capital valuations.

In its embryonic stage the IR let out

contracts to rating surveyors to value

commercial and industrial (still 75% derated)

properties to ease the initial burden on the

VO. Isaac Dixon, Chartered Surveyors began

with such a contract in 1950, in preparation

for the 1956 revaluation. Sadly, subsequent

quinquennial revaluations have been deferred

or cancelled. Successive governments have

not understood that the longer revaluations

are postponed, the greater are the problems

of the switch in incidence not only between

different classes of property, but also within

various classes.

As an articled pupil, I was fortunate to gain

experience from my above mentors, but I

needed a professional qualification. I went to

night school at Liverpool College of Building

(many years before Peter Brown shared his

knowledge with students at what became

Liverpool John Moores University) and

Liverpool College of Commerce on day release.

Ultimately I qualified in 1958, then was

encouraged in 1959 to join the vibrant and

convivial Rating and Valuation Association,

managed by Secretary Frank Othick, a

gentleman of talent, influence, great vision,

and persuasive powers – these latter talents

held by all his successors who have put their

own stamp on our profession. They include

the studious Brian Hill, acting Secretary Julian

Price, irascible Colin Farringon, short term

Karen Aldred, and now directed by our very

own David Magor, aided by Gary Watson and

efficient helpful staff.

Through the RVA/IRRV, I have made many

friends, initially members in the Lancashire and Cheshire branch, some sadly now not

with us. The ebullient Bob Wilson, quiet Ted

Morris, lordly John Eyles, demanding Frank

Myatt, Mancunion Tom Linfoot, sporting Alf

Alker, entertaining Allan Shaw, quietly efficient

Bernard Shovelton, studious Ron Garner,

stern Bill Ormond, and the veracious Sam

West among them! Joyously still around are

miscellaneous income expert Doug Roberts

(now in his 90s), the slightly younger lecturer

Gil Young, even younger Ian Ferguson,

Treasurer Mike Commins, ladies duo Linda

Price (formerly Melia) and Ann Penn (formerly

Sizer), ‘journalist ’ John Roberts, wanderer

Barry Smith, and fellow cricketer John Pursall.

In 1972, I was lucky to be elected to

national Council, with meetings at the

imposing HQ, 29 Belgrave Square, London,

with later moves to Ebury Street, cramped

Doughty Street, and now the modern High

Holborn. I was told “only four council meetings

a year, one of which is at Conference, and a

few other meetings”. I soon realised the extent

of meetings – Education and Membership,

Law and Parliamentary, Conference

committee, the all embracing Council, the

Finance and General Purposes Committee,

sub-committees and various consultative

groups – which all enabled me to contribute

and to learn from others.

For many years the examination structure

was ably managed by the calm Olive Sarson,

succeeded by the effervescent Julie Fox.

They were supported by a small moderating

sub-committee of Council members, variously

including Terry Massey, father of ‘Yeti’, the

Epsom and latterly south-west gentleman

John Sharp, the sadly recently deceased

Alan Titheridge, and the core of racing

workaholic and honourable Colin Thrower,

sage Gil Young... and me! Their duties

included liaising with examiners, ensuring

examination questions were relevant, fair,

understandable and not duplicated, then to

moderate on candidates’ overall performance.

The Institute has been fortunate in having

enthusiastic and reliable examiners, including

Council members, some occasionally needing

chivvying – they know who they are! Later, the

Examinations and Assessment Board was

set up, as it was thought more appropriate to

have examinations overseen by practitioners

and academics largely independent of

Council, serviced by the ever persuasive

Michael Hopkins. The Board was chaired by

eminent lawyer and retired Ombudsman Sir

David Yardley. On his retirement, the chair

was fittingly filled by Gil Young. Later, an

additional examining group emerged, but as

only one was needed, the Qualifications Management Board was hatched.

Numerous famous pre-exam and

refresher courses, managed by branch

members, have been of great value to those

wishing to progress. I have been tolerated at

some of them, trying to make rating valuation

sound difficult.

After much heart searching, the Rating and

Valuation Association became our Institute,

“Successive governments have not understood that the longer revaluations are postponed, the greater are the problems of the switch in incidence not only between different classes of property, but also within various classes.”

Reflections

Institute stalwart of fifty-five years Peter Fairhurst makes a fitting contribution to Insight’s occasional series

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Reflections

a Council meeting in ‘local’ Le Touquet.

Before retiring at the end of busy meetings

the musical talents of John Roberts were

revealed! Our first European Conference

was successfully held in Paris in 1991 –

surprisingly this was Pat Doherty’s first flight,

and unwittingly the pilot gave him an extra

touchdown and take off before landing. Since

then, our seasoned travellers’ feet have hardly

touched the ground; as has been the case

with our Director, initially accompanied by

valuation apothecary John Charman, breaking

new ground in the 1990s, succeeded by other

members’ expertise, extending the Institute’s

influence. There have been subsequent

European conferences and international

prestige through instrumentalist and

powerhouse Roger Messenger’s work

with TEGoVA .

I was honoured to be elected President

(1980/1981), when my geographical

knowledge was stretched by enjoyable visits,

with my long suffering family of Viv, Paul and

Janet, to 19 branches. Arrangements were

left for the President to sort out liaising with

the efficient stalwart branch secretaries. As

initiated by revolutionary academic Stuart

Page and others, now showing that members

have wider interests than ‘pure’ rating. The

stigma of rating was felt by none other than

Margaret Thatcher who, in 1974 as Shadow Environment Spokesperson, voiced

politicians’ hatred of it. As Prime Minister, she

was able to put a spoke in the wheel, and in

spite of our reasoned professional advice, she

introduced the even more hated community charge. This misjudgement led to hurried

replacement by council tax.

Moira Hepworth, our Policy and Research

Manager, ably assisted by Agnes Akullo, has

gallantly and loyally ensured the Institute is

prominent on the professional scene, as is

the case with our leader David Magor. Our

submissions and meetings on proposed

legislation have tried to guide politicians,

sometimes with success. Much worthwhile

time was spent on the Layfield Inquiry (1974-1976) where I like to think we had

some influence in defence of the rating

system. I am not so sure about the Wood Committee’s review of rateable plant and machinery, after asking our understanding

of rateability of these items abroad, in view of

our international connections. Colin Farrington

was not amused when I obtained a technical

reply needing translation from German!

In the 1970s, we expanded our

influence abroad through our link with the

International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). At their 1980 symposium

on property tax, I was entrusted to present

a paper entitled ‘Valuation development

and cancellation of the 1982 revoluation! ’

Other sorties into Europe and beyond were

stimulated by Colin Farrington, starting with

ever we had a strong, hard-working Council

to which I was pleased to welcome young

enthusiast David Magor.

I aimed to build bridges to create, improve,

expand and strengthen our links with allied

professions. I attended meetings, as have my

successors, to encourage greater recognition,

understanding of and co-operation with the

Institute. My target included the Civil Service Commission, where I was encouraged by

progressive Chief Valuers. After considerable

endeavour, the VOA have been using our

examination structure, recently broadened by

our partnership with the Royal Agricultural University, a long established, well respected

and valued seat of learning.

In addition to members mentioned above,

it has been my great pleasure to have the

company of other characters – dignified and

thoughtful John Chapman, rural adviser and

raconteur Rex Hudson, methodical Leslie

Hardy, Brian, that other Hardy of Lands

Tribunal and Honorary fame, author Ed Slater,

tutor and Honorary Bill Lovell, larger than

life Richard Guy, dogmatic Tom Dixon, man

of letters Richard Harbord, lost Bruce Jones,

“The Institute has been fortunate in having enthusiastic and reliable examiners, including Council members, some occasionally needing chivvying – they know who they are!”

Peter at Belfast City Hall, May 1981 Met and Home Counties weekend school,

March 1981

The Council, Torquay Conference, October 1981

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man of taste Gordon Heath, Shakespearean

Geoff Fisher, the midland gang of Barry

Wheeler, Jim Barnfield, Alan Causer and

John Owen, then there was Roger Young,

challenging Peter Scrafton, Welsh wizards Cyril

McCarthy, Tom Jones, John Butler and recently

Kerry Macdermott, Scottish Eric Geddes,

Ron Skinner, Tom Irvine and Allan Traynor,

courteous David Shepherd from Northern

Ireland, Malcolm Mercer, book lover Jim Erwin,

and now Alan Bronte... and not forgetting the

appeal of the Valuation Tribunal Service

represented by Roger Ravenscroft.

I am conscious of having not mentioned

more of our ladies. There were none on

Council when I was elected, but Reba Smith

broke the mould. Since when we have

slightly more balanced representation led

by the erudite and resolute ladies Barbara

Culverhouse, Carol Cutler, Suzanne Dean and

Julie Holden – even now we only have five

ladies on Council, though.

My 55 years in the Institute has been

rewarded by the company of many interesting

characters, some I have not mentioned for

no reason other than a failing memory, which

please forgive. I have a lot to thank the RVA/

IRRV for, and I wish it and members well for

the future.

Neil MortonPeter Fairhurst FRICS IRRV (Hons)

“As ever we had a strong, hard-working Council to which I was pleased to welcome young enthusiast David Magor.”

recently he had to decline a lunch invitation

because he was giving a talk at a local

residential home.

Peter and I swapped roles in 1979, with

Peter moving to Dixon Henderson’s Liverpool

office as a prelude to Myles Richardson’s

retirement, as he took on the role of IRRV President. His hard work and enthusiasm

and involvement in multiple organisations,

and his resulting high profile and reputation,

meant that his firm (which was essentially

a small Merseyside-based practice) was

able to compete for large national contracts,

establishing a niche role, particularly in the

nuclear industry.

In the mid-80s Peter and I, being ‘the young partners’, were left as the only

two prior to Dixon Henderson’s merger

with Harper Webb in 1986. Peter had the

foresight to realise that a small regional firm

with only two partners was probably not a

sustainable model, and it was his initiative

that brought the two firms together to form

Dixon Webb. During that time, with only two

of us to take decisions, partners’ meetings

very often consisted of a quick meet up on

the way home in the Liverpool Airport car

park – how I later envied those days when,

with several partners, meetings would go on

for many hours!

I think Peter’s greatest achievements have

been to inspire others that have worked with

him and for him, developing a reputation and

standing within and without the firm that has

led to him being held in such high regard. I am

proud to have been both a colleague and to

this day a friend of Peter.

I have known Peter since the early part

of 1970, when I joined the firm Dixon Henderson & Co as a young trainee. Peter

by then was one of the established partners

running what was in those days a mixed

general practice firm in Widnes. At that time

I was based at Dixon Henderson’s Liverpool

office, under Myles Richardson (a former

president of the RVA) and Frank Wearing.

I remember being sent out one day to

Widnes to meet Peter, and was very much

in awe of him – he had a formidable

reputation, working in those days what then

seemed unusual but is now commonplace –

very long hours.

Peter’s dedication and hard work are

well known. One story that filtered back to

me which (if true!) typifies this, describing

Peter taking the Estates Gazette home at

night and reading it in bed. Again if true,

Viv must have been very tolerant – I know

what would’ve happened to me if I’d tried

to do that!

In addition to the work with Dixon

Henderson (later Dixon Webb) Peter found

time for many voluntary activities. The first

one that I was aware of was when he became

Chairman of the local branch of the RVA

in 1974, and at that stage, when chairmen

without exception seemed elderly, Peter

seemed very young. In 1981 he became

national President, and some years

later again he was branch Chairman of the

Merseyside and Isle of Man branch of the

RICS. He was also committee member

at Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool Bluecoat, Villages Housing Association,

and an Abbeyfield home. This involvement

with voluntary work continues up to this day –

Peter Fairhurst – aswitnessed throughthe eyes of Neil Morton

Preparing for Presidential handover,

November 1980

Andrew Hobley is Assessment Team Leader

with the Local Government Ombudsman 28

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LGO update

A council can outsource a service, but not

outsource the accountability for that service.

We expect that councils will have provided

some guidance to agents such as:

• what actions are required at the

compliance stage

• when the agent should move to the

enforcement stage, and

• when to remove goods, and any restrictions

on making arrangements to pay.

Enforcement agents should have their own

complaints process, and it is reasonable

to expect them to deal with complaints first,

including responding to any points about the

behaviour of the agent. If the complainant is

still dissatisfied, the enforcement agent should

then direct complainants to the council’s own

complaints process, perhaps at the second

stage. This will allow a unified response with

any other issues about the debt.

The council should then consider the

agent’s actions, make its own enquires,

consider the evidence and come to its own

view. The council may feel that court is the

appropriate place to resolve any queries, but

should still refer the complainant to the LGO.

Councils should learn from the complaints

they receive, and also report any concerns

about how the legislation is working to the

Ministry of Justice. We will also be monitoring

complaints about agents, and reporting back

to the Ministry in due course.

Back in the August 2013 edition of Insight,

I looked at the lessons learnt from dealing

with complaints about housing and council tax

benefit claims, and how they may be relevant

to council tax support claims.

Now 2013/14 is behind us, I am surprised

with how few complaints about council tax

support we received – a total of 46 enquiries

to our ‘intake team’. Of these, 80% were not

considered further, as they had either not gone

through the council’s complaint process, or

had alternative appeal rights that complainants

Benefits and bailiffs...One of 2014’s big local taxation changes is

the implementation of the reform of the law

governing bailiffs, or as we should now call

them, enforcement agents. There are now

very clear rights to challenge virtually all agents’

actions in court. So, where does that leave the

Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)? Our position has always been that the

courts determine the law, but we determine

good administration. An example of this might

be where a council takes court action when

there is an undetermined benefit claim. The

law (R v Bristol City Magistrates’ Court etc 1991) says this is legal, but the LGO has said

that councils should not seek a liability order

while a claim for benefit is outstanding, and

the reason for the delay in dealing with the

claim is not the claimant’s fault (Ombudsman Reports 98/A/04300 and 99/A/02636). So the action may be legal, but it may not be

good administration.

The LGO normally expects someone to

appeal to a court if they have that right.

However, we have discretion to investigate

if we consider it would be unreasonable for

a person to have to use their appeal rights.

This means that just because there is a court

remedy, we may not necessarily expect a

complainant to have to use it.

One reason not to exercise our discretion

might be a dispute over the interpretation of

the law where clarification by the court would

be necessary. Conversely, a reason to exercise

discretion might be a clear breach of the law,

or where the personal circumstances of the

complainant make court action inappropriate.

The important point is that we will consider

each complaint on its merits.

So, how do we expect a council to deal

with complaints about its agents? As the

Ombudsman said in one case, “Councils are

responsible for the actions of their agents.

The council needs to exercise more customer

care than simply saying the bailiffs can legally

do what they did.” (complaint 13002131).

could use. Of the remainder, we found fault

in one case, but as the impact of the alleged

flawed advice would not be clear until after an

appeal the complainant had made, we did not

investigate further.

I suspect that the low number of complaints

we have received is a combination of how

we categorise them on our database (some

complaints will have also involved council tax

benefit and been categorised as that), and a

reflection of the efforts councils have made

to continue to pay council tax support at

100%, or putting in discretionary payment regimes that have covered the harder cases.

But I am sure this is a subject to which I shall

return next year!

“Councils should learn from the complaints they receive, and also report any concerns about how the legislation is working to the Ministry of Justice.”

...these two hardyannuals are still onthe Ombudsman’s ‘hit list’, explains Andrew Hobley

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The roots of better managementMoments after winning the 2014 Eurovision

Song Contest, Austria’s bearded lady, Conchita

Wurst, dedicated the victory to “everyone who

believes in a future of peace and freedom”.

Laudable words, and I’m always gratified

to hear someone in the public eye use the

opportunity to promote a positive karma –

for there’s much work still to be done if ever

such a future is to be realised! Current events

in Syria and the Ukraine are testimony to

that, but the outrageous kidnapping of 200

schoolgirls in Nigeria beggars belief. And that’s

not to mention the disappearance of a jumbo

jet with hundreds of passengers on board!

Closer to home, my faith in humanity

continues to be shaken. I have spoken

before about revelations of disgraceful

senior police actions in the wake of the

Hillsborough tragedy, and the vile activities

that, it would appear, have gone unchecked

in both the Catholic Church and educational

establishments for some time. Now, we have a

procession of public figures being investigated,

charged and, in some cases, jailed for shocking

abuse (physical and sexual) of young people.

Almost all can be attributed to poor

leadership, leading to questionable decision

making and an appalling abuse of power. It ’s

the abuse of power that worries me, as I think

we can probably all recall events from our

own careers where – on a less sinister scale –

there has been inappropriate behaviour in

the workplace.

The reason it worries me so much is

twofold. Firstly, because of the immediate

personal impact it has on victims. It should

go without saying that the consequences of

abuse – whether physical, verbal, or emotional

– can leave the victim emotionally scarred,

and in the worst cases, their mental

health affected.

Which brings me to the second reason for

my concern. The ramifications are not always

immediately apparent. Listening to a sexual

abuse victim talk about their experiences on

a radio programme recently, it made me think

about the longer term effects. The individual

concerned was so disturbed that it hampered

their ability to engage properly with friends,

family and colleagues.

Now that example was a more extreme

case, but my point is that any such abuse

can leave profound ‘scar tissue’, and the

weakness created is only exposed many years

later. Consequently, I’m wondering how many

poor decisions have been made over the

years by people who suffered at the hands

of abusers? The frailty may manifest itself

much later, when they are in a position of

responsibility in, say, business, government,

education or health, and can lead to

catastrophic consequences for others. We may

never know the root cause, and the result is

that, potentially, many people get affected by

the actions of a few.

Evidence suggests that many victims, of

sexual abuse for example, go on to become

perpetrators themselves. Apart from the fact

that any abuse can ultimately affect your

mental state, for the impressionable it can

also lead to the thought that such behaviour

is acceptable as the norm. In the workplace,

abuse can also lead to victims forming the

view that, upon assuming a position of

responsibility, they then have the opportunity

to now exert their power over others, and

the risk is that similarly abusive behaviour

is perpetuated.

Sixteenth century French apothecary,

Nostradamus, believed that all our actions and

decisions are predetermined, and whichever

route we choose, we’re predisposed to the

inevitable consequences. This has been

illustrated in the form of a tree, by suggesting

that decisions are the junctions of branches,

and, depending upon which direction we

choose, the branch already exists to take us to

the outcome.

All branches, of course, ultimately end –

it is how we reach that ‘end’ that’s important.

We do have a choice! We can choose to take

advantage of power bestowed upon us and

potentially cause untold damage to victims,

both current and future. Or we can choose

to take a positive route, and use that power

to change the course of history. And I’m not

understating the significance of that.

Whilst, as I described earlier, it ’s possible to

detrimentally affect the course of outcomes

for some time afterwards, it ’s equally possible

to positively influence by setting the right

tone, making the right decisions and seeking

to end negative behaviour. The great strides

forward in the fight against bullying are a good

example of this effect.

Power should be used as a source of

influence, not a means to control people. Who

knows who we might influence in the course

of our careers, and in turn, who they then go

on to inspire? Our impact is measured less by

what we achieve in life, more by those whose

lives we touch.

Whilst Conchita Wurst’s vision of peace

and freedom may be many years away from

realisation, we all have a responsibility for

making positive decisions in the workplace.

“ The frailty may manifest itself much later, when they are in a position of responsibility in, say, business, government, education or health, and can lead to catastrophic consequences for others.”

Sean Langley FIRRV is a benefits and

revenues consultant, and author of The Phat

Controller (A Leadership Handbook).

Go to www.seanlangley.co.uk

Management

Sean Langley’s column gets serious with issues surrounding abuse and its potential origins in poor leadership

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Technology

for the hard copy document. The document included six priorities,

one of which was to implement the development of a corporate IT strategy for e-government, including robust targets for the availability of, use of, and satisfaction with electronic services.

The strategy highlighted that new technology would offer opportunities and choice. The then government announced that “It can give us access to services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will make our lives easier. Government intends to be at the head of these developments”.

So in 2000 the government issued a follow up paper entitled, ‘e-government – A Strategic Framework for Public Services in the Information Age’.

The paper made some bold statements, one of which was that ‘The government intends that all services which can be electronically delivered should be’. The strategy proposed that they should be accessible over the internet and through mobile phones, digital TV and call centres, as well as through personal computers. The mix of access channel for any service will be determined in relation to demand.

The government’s initial intention, as detailed in the ‘Modernising Government White Paper’, was that by 2008 all services should be available electronically (with exclusions for policy or operational reasons). The Prime Minister announced in March 2000 that this date should be advanced to 2005.

The framework gave rise to Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) statements. From December 2001 to April 2006 local authorities were required to publish an IEG statement on their degree of e-enablement (electronic enablement). The measures included

Government... 24/7

It’s mid-April, and the daily ‘digital by default’ website email arrives in my inbox. The heading reads, ‘Digital Inclusion Strategy aims to reduce those who are offline by 25%’. The article announces that the government has just launched its Digital Inclusion Strategy, which sets out how it will reduce the number of people who are offline by a quarter by 2016. As part of this strategy, it has also launched a new Digital Inclusion Charter.

The charter brings together 40 organisations from all sectors who are committed to a 25% reduction in offline citizens, and a further 25% reduction every two years after that.

Whilst I am pleased to see a proactive approach to getting people online, I am perhaps becoming a little cynical as to the effectiveness of such strategies.

In the history of the internet, which in 2014 is only 25 years old, there have been many government initiatives to increase take up and take advantage of the benefits that the internet age brings.

Let’s go back to 1999 – 15 years ago, the then Labour government issued a strategy called ‘Modernising Government’. I can remember it well, and eagerly signed up

BVPI 157 and the Priority Outcomes. BVPI 157 measured the percentage of ‘interactions’ provided by a local authority that were e-enabled. The figure was published annually as part of the Best Value performance management framework. The figure was calculated on the following types of interaction as they applied to the services provided by the local authority:• providing information• collecting revenue• providing benefits and grants• consultation• regulation (such as issuing licences)• applications for services• booking venues, resources and courses• paying for goods and services• providing access to community,

professional or business networks• procurement.

Around 2003/04 it became apparent that the 2005 target may not be hit, so the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (and its successor the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) issued a list of key targets, most commonly referred to as the Priority Outcomes or PSOs (Priority Service Outcomes). These outcomes watered down the requirements to achieve the 100% target, by segmenting the obligation into:• required = to be implemented (available

for use) by December 2005• good = to be approved for funding and

being actively underway by December 2005 and implemented by 1st April 2006

• excellent = voluntary for authorities that have implemented required and good outcomes early.

Interestingly, revenues and benefits

“The initiative highlighted that public services have to use technology to give citizens a choice, with personalised services designed around their needs, and not the needs of the provider.”

Yet another digital strategy is launched, discovers Simon Bailey, but this time it may be on the right track

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were included in the outcomes as being a public facing service. There was a required outcome that a citizen or their agents could check their eligibility for and calculate their entitlement to housing and council tax benefit, and to download and print relevant claim forms. In 2014 I think there are still some authorities that don’t yet meet this outcome.

The priority outcomes were then replaced in 2005 by another strategy called ‘Transformational Government: Enabled by Technology’. The initiative highlighted that public services have to use technology to give citizens a choice, with personalised services designed around their needs, and not the needs of the provider.

In March 2010, yet another initiative was launched. Race Online 2012 was a government backed enterprise aiming to make the UK one of the first countries in the world to achieve near-total internet use by 2012.

Race Online invited companies, organisations and individuals to sign a pledge outlining what they would do to inspire, help and support the then 8.7 million adults in the UK who had never used the internet to get online. Judging by the number still not digitally included, it didn’t do as well as our athletes did in 2012!

So here we are in 2014 with the introduction of yet another strategy. What makes this one different?

Well, it builds on the experience of all the attempts to get people digitally included that have gone before. I believe it is not making rash promises to get all people online by a certain date, or to provide 100% of services electronically by a hastily thought up deadline that is bound to be missed.

The strategy is also pragmatic in that it recognises that just under 10% of the adult population may never be able to gain basic digital capabilities because of disabilities or basic literacy skills, and so it will provide support to anyone who cannot access government’s digital services independently. This comment in itself is a refreshing change from other strategies.

The government is also putting in a review period. The strategy outlines how the government will work over the next two years to reduce the number of people without basic digital skills and capabilities by a quarter. At that point, the government will review its approach to ensure it is on course to have everyone who can be online, online by 2020.

Through their research and consultation, the government has identified four main kinds of challenge that people face to going online:• access – the ability to actually go online

and connect to the internet• skills – to be able to use the internet• motivation – knowing the reasons why

using the internet is a good thing• trust – a fear of crime, or not knowing

where to start to go online.

It rightly recognises that digital inclusion

Simon Bailey IRRV (Hons) is a

Director of ISCAS – contact him on

[email protected] (www.iscas.co.uk)

“There is already a lot of good work being done to meet these challenges, but it is recognised that this support is fragmented,

and is not joined up to have an impact.”

is about overcoming all of the four challenges, and not just one.

There is already a lot of good work being done to meet these challenges, but it is recognised that this support is fragmented, and is not joined up to have an impact. This is where the Digital Inclusion Partnership comes in. This brings together many organisations, including banks, mobile phone companies, supermarkets, media companies and libraries. One of the partners, Go ON UK, has already established digitalskills.com as a trusted source of information and advice on how to help people and organisations to go online. From a Local Support Services Framework point of view, this will be an extremely useful source of information to be used for digital inclusion. The site is in development, but you can add and share resources in your own geographical area. Isn’t sharing information and resources just what the internet should be about?

One quote from the strategy, that is used to identify those who are already reluctantly online, reads “I have to fill out these forms on the computers, otherwise they clip my benefits.” This is not the starting point for getting people online, but maybe it is where we have been going wrong, and perhaps the inclusion strategy will change all that.

Let’s not forget that no-one is ever going to move to a channel or service that is harder to use or less beneficial. “What’s in it for me” is only one of the barriers we have to overcome.

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Doherty’s despatch

Universal Credit – A short historyThe government has committed £488bn to

199 major projects in order to ‘transform public services’ over the next 20 years,

according to official figures, but the Major

Projects Authority (MPA), a government body

designed to improve project performance for

the taxpayer, revealed in their second report

in May that half of the plans are at risk of not

being completed on time.

The watchdog said there were 104

government projects categorised as amber,

amber/red or red in 2013, meaning the

body has concerns about their delivery. This

has increased from 89 identified in their

first report in May 2013. The figures mean

the number of major projects ‘at risk ’ has

increased by 16.8% between 2012 and 2013.

One of these 104, and a major one, is

Universal Credit (UC), that has not even

been categorized as red, but has been

included in a new ‘reset ’ category – which is

below red.

UC has only been around for a relatively short

time, but it already has a chequered history:

• November 2010: the welfare white paper

is published

• January 2011: the project’s ‘design and build’ phase commences

• October 2011: Computer Weekly queries

the feasibility of such a large IT project

• Mid-2012: the Secretary of State sends in

an emergency ‘red team’ to report back.

He later reveals, “I was concerned that the

relationship between the security and the

online aspects wasn’t going to work”

• October 2012: the regulatory framework is

laid in parliament

• February 2013: the MPA review expresses

serious concerns about the department

having no detailed ‘blueprint’ and transition

plan for UC. In response, the head of the

MPA is asked to conduct a 13 week ‘reset’ between February and May 2013. This is not

made public until September

Ready, Re-set, Go?

• Early results from pilot studies show that

plans to pay housing benefit directly to

tenants rather than landlords under UC will

lead to more evictions and arrears

• March 2013: the Secretary of State tells

parliament UC, “is proceeding exactly in

accordance with plans”

• April 2013: the first visible signs of trouble

start to emerge as the national rollout is

massively scaled down and delayed.

The Secretary of State defends the smaller

launch plans, saying, “We learn in detail

the problems, we slowly build the volumes

up. It is a perpetual process of rolling out

and checking”

• September 2013: a damning National

Audit Office report is released saying UC is

beset by, “weak management, ineffective

control and poor governance”. It reveals

ministers have already written off £34m on

failed IT programmes, and the department

may be forced to delay a national launch

beyond 2017

• November 2013: The Guardian reveals

ministers have been presented with a radical

plan, detailed in more than 150 pages of

leaked documents, to restart UC and write off

£119m of work over the past three years

• Two options offered include creating a

much more web based system, reducing the

need for Jobcentre staff, and improving the

existing system, building on the investment

already made

• December 2013: the Work and Pensions

Secretary said that UC might miss the 2017

target, as the department admits 700,000

people may not be transferred in time

• January 2014: minutes of a Whitehall

meeting say friction between the DWP and

the Cabinet Office is causing ‘high level’ risks to the delivery of the project. A Cabinet

Office elite team pulls out of the project,

leaving the DWP urgently searching for new

IT specialists

• May 2014: UC has had to be reorganised so

This month, Pat Doherty’s eagle eye tracks down Universal Credit progress, Tax Credits, and the future of local government finance

“Some of those affected told the CAB they have felt ‘threatened’ by the sometimes aggressive tactics used by private debt collectors contracted by HMRC.”

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fundamentally that the MPA has judged that

it is now an entirely new project, with last

year’s red/amber rating scrapped.

In its report, the MPA said, “The ‘reset ’ category has been applied to the UC project.

We have undertaken significant work to

develop a ‘reset plan’ to place the rollout of

UC on a more secure footing, and the ‘reset ’ Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA)

reflects this new status of the project.”

Defending the troubled system, the

DWP has claimed that the watchdog’s

report is out of date, because it made its

assessment last September. The department

says it has subsequently made progress in

implementing UC through a limited number

of pilots in Jobcentres.

So far as I can see, the IT project to deliver

the government’s UC scheme to reorganise

the welfare system has gone so badly that

it ’s not even been given the worst rating in

the yearly review, instead getting its very own

‘reset ’ category! I think local government

could teach the DWP a thing or two about

running IT projects and delivering on time.

Commission on Local Government FinanceThe Chartered Institute of Public Finance and

the Local Government Association have set up

an independent commission to look into the

future of local authority finance, and it is

tasked with developing reforms to address key

challenges amid spending reductions.

The group has been asked to examine the

current funding regime, and to come up with

reforms to support local services and promote

economic growth in England.

According to Public Finance, the

commission will examine the need for local

government finance reform by looking at the

ways the current system presents barriers to

the changes needed to create more jobs and

grow local economies. It will examine five key

themes across local spending, including:

• investment in infrastructure

• investment in housing

• integrating health and social care

• creating a welfare benefits system that

promotes work and protects the vulnerable,

and

• supporting families and young people

through early intervention.

Hopefully, this commission will come up

with some constructive ideas that will not

disappear into oblivion, as has happened with

previous inquiries/commissions, particularly as

the Chancellor has made clear that reductions

in public spending will continue, whilst at the

same time there is growing demand for some

council services.

It is expected the commission will publish

interim findings in the autumn, ahead of

a final report in early 2015 that will, it is

hoped, shape debate on the future of

local government finance and influence the

next government.

Increase in debt problems caused by Tax Credit overpayments, say CABThe Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) says that

they have witnessed a 14% increase in the

number of people falling into debt as a result

“So far as I can see, the IT project to deliver the government’s UC scheme to reorganise the welfare system has gone so badly that it’s not even been given the worst rating in the yearly review, instead getting its very own ‘reset’ category!”

Pat Doherty FIRRV CPFA is an

independent consultant and a Past

President of the IRRV.If you wish to comment

on anything in his article, please email

him on [email protected]

of Tax Credit overpayments.

According to the CAB, they dealt with

29,366 problems related to Tax Credit

overpayments during the 2013/14 tax year.

Of those requests for help and information

linked to Tax Credit errors, 14,157 people

required advice on how to budget more

effectively in order to afford to repay the debt

– a 19% increase.

Tax Credit debt arises as a result of HMRC

over-estimating a person’s entitlement, and

not because of claimant fraud. Measures to

recoup Tax Credit overpayments can include

the use of private debt companies, who text,

telephone or write to those HMRC believes

have been overpaid. Some of those affected

told the CAB they have felt ‘threatened’ by

the sometimes aggressive tactics used by

private debt collectors contracted by HMRC.

New powers have also been given to HMRC

to recoup money directly from a claimant’s

bank account. This had led to fears that money

could be taken incorrectly from those who

HMRC suspects of being overpaid when they

were not. The CAB Chief Executive said, “For

thousands of families, Whitehall calculations

are leading to household debt. Tax Credits

are there to make sure people get a decent

standard of income, but the sharp rise in

debts from overpaid tax credits suggests this

policy is having the opposite effect.”

Whilst this does not appear to be of direct

relevance to local authorities, it can impact on

their collection of council tax or the recovery

of overpayments from the very same families who are subject to enforcement

action by HMRC.

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Viewpoint

at all, they will be like turkey’s voting for

Christmas, and their responses will be valid on

preference. In response to early criticism, to be

fair to Gatwick airport’s limited consultation,

it does actually include a ‘none of the above’

option, so it is possible, at least in theory, to

vote for no runway at all, but you will have to

clarify this in the ‘free text’ box.

It is very easy to draw up our consultation

documents to lead towards the answer that

we want, but is that really honest? Will it lead

to the true representation of residents’ views?

If not, it potentially has little value. Continuing

with the Gatwick example, the consultation

closed in the middle of May, but before this

date the airport had made a submission to the

Davies Committee outlining their preferred

option, thus of course calling into question the

point of the consultation.

Consultation is a requirement in many

walks of public life, but at no stage are you

required to alter your views in the light of this.

You should be able to show that you have at

least considered it, but need not change your

views as a result. The same type of situation

has occurred with neighbourhood plans

where statutory consultation is required to

be completed and the responses form part

There are manyways to consultMany years ago I was the senior revenues

officer responsible for collecting from a major

airport when a certain airline managed to

muddle up their business rates account to

the point of a liability order being obtained.

I was all set to march in and take possession

of a Boeing as distraint, but thinking about

the public relations embarrassment to this

national organisation, and the inconvenience

caused should I manage to get away with this

audacious act, I thought I’d give them one

last chance, and wrote to the chairman with

my intention! Within 48 hours the airline had

made an arrangement to make the annual

payment over six months. As this was a

substantial account, I was most popular with

the Treasurer, due to the extra interest earned

on this cash deposit!

This story came back to me recently as I

was poring over the consultation on the

second runway for Gatwick. The proposal is

actually a bid to the Davies Committee, who

will be deciding where the new runway goes,

with Gatwick and Heathrow being the two

front runners.

In West Sussex, especially near the airport,

views are passionate and quite divided as to

whether a second runway for Gatwick would

be good for the economy, or whether the

cost environmentally and the disturbance

to residents is too high a price to pay. The

consultation has been accompanied by a set

of exhibitions to try to persuade residents that

it would be good. The consultation response

itself is interesting. The sections ask honestly

for concerns and views, but fail to ask the

most fundamental question of all – do you

actually want the airport to have a second

runway? Indeed the consultation is actually

on the preferred siting of the runway – giving

three options to choose from.

What this boils down to is an excellent

example of clever consultation. If the

respondents answer the questions, even if

they are not in support of a second runway

of a consultation document, but you are not

required to alter your plan as a result.

I am regularly asked by members of the

public what number of responses are needed

for a change in a policy document to be

required. Of course the answer is that there

is none, so I can understand why some

people may ask what the point of responding

is! I would hope that even though we may

not be required to change our views, when

overwhelming views are presented, or good

ideas are raised that were not originally

thought of, that we would all have the humility

to accept that change, no matter how small

– this is a win for democracy and the original

concept of consultation. Without it we may

as well simply march on to the Boeing and

distrain, just because we have the right!

“Consultation is a requirement in many walks of public life, but at no stage are you required to alter your views in the light of this. You should be able to show that you have at least considered it, but need not change your views as a result.”

...says Julie Holden, but make sure you play the game fairly

Julie Holden IRRV (Hons) MCMI CMg is

Town Clerk with East Grinstead Town Council,

and a Past President of the IRRV

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Telford International Centre, Telford 7 – 9 October 2014

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