ISSN 1361-1305 ISSN INSIGHTJUNE 2012 £5.50 www.irrv.net

The monthly journal of the Institute of Revenues, Rating & Valuation A rewarding experience! That’s the view of Jane Worrell and Shepway District Council’s revenues team, as they look back on their 2011 IRRV ‘Revenues Team’ Performance Award win

INSIDE: Collection & Enforcement Conference report • News & events • Keeping it civil in local taxation Regular items Features

Chief Executive’s notes 05 Cover story 20 A rewarding experience! News and events 06

Education & membership 08

Running the Institute 10

From the archives 11 1884 is the year for the next stage of Gary Watson’s journey back into history

Welfare reform 24

Back office processing 25

Legal view 26 Student council tax issues, asserts Alan Murdie, should not be taken lightly That’s the view of Jane Worrell and Shepway District Council’s revenues Shared services 28 team, as they look back on their 2011 Lessons must be learnt from central shared IRRV ‘Revenues Team’ Performance service failures, says Dominic Wallace Award win

Alternative revenues 29

Technology 30 All may not be as well as it’s been portrayed on the Universal Credit IT scene, suggests Simon Bailey

Doherty’s despatch 32

Viewpoint 34

IRRV INSIGHT IRRV Advertising © IRRV 2012. Reproduction in whole or (Hons); Robert Brown BSc FRICS FIRRV; T 020 7691 8996 in part of any article is prohibited without Tracy Crowe CPFA FIRRV; Carol Cutler Managing Editor Chief Executive E [email protected] prior written consent. The views expressed IRRV (Hons); Tom Dixon RD BSc (Est John Roberts David Magor, OBE IRRV (Hons) Editorial in this magazine do not necessarily Man) FRICS IRRV (Hons); Ian Ferguson Editorial Director Northumberland House John Roberts IRRV (Hons) represent the views of the Institute. IRRV (Hons); Geoff Fisher FRICS (Dip Lester Dinnie 5th Floor T 07952 659 258 Whilst all due care is taken regarding the Rating) IRRV (Hons) REV; Richard Guy accuracy of information, no responsibility FRICS (Dip Rating) IRRV (Hons) MCIArb; Art Director 303-306 High Holborn, E [email protected] can be accepted for errors. Any advice Mary Hardman IRRV (Hons) FRICS London WC1V 7JZ Tregartha Dinnie Ltd Don Tregartha given does not constitute a legal opinion. T 020 7831 3505 Ibex House, 5 Keller Close, Kiln Farm, MCMI; Gordon Heath BSc IRRV (Hons); Designers E [email protected] Milton Keynes MK11 3LL IRRV Council: IRRV President Roger Julie Holden IRRV (Hons) MCMI CMg; Clare Barker W www.irrv.net T 01908 306500 Messenger BSc (Est Man) FRICS FIRRV Caroline Hopkins IRRV (Hons); Kerry Macdermott IRRV (Hons); Tony Masella Roddy Clenaghan Enquiries W www.tregartha-dinnie.co.uk MCIArb REV; Senior Vice-President www.irrv.net David Chapman IRRV (Hons); Junior MRICS MCIOB FIRRV AFA F.Inst.AM; T Copy Editor Membership 020 7691 8996 IRRV Insight is produced by Tregartha Vice-President Richard Harbord MPhil Jim MaCafferty IRRV (Hons); Maureen Vicki Chastney Conferences 020 7691 8987 Dinnie Ltd on behalf of the IRRV. IGH CPFA FCCA IRRV (Hons) FIDP FBIM Neave Tech IRRV; Nick Rowe IRRV

S Subscriptions 020 7691 8996 Publisher Unless otherwise indicated, copyright FRSA; Honorary Treasurer Allan Traynor (Hons); Peter Scrafton FIRRV FCIArb IN in this publication belongs to the IRRV. Tregartha Dinnie Ltd FCCA IRRV (Hons); Phil Adlard Tech IRRV MRSA (Hons); Angela Storey Tech 2 June 2012 ISSN 1361-1305 MlnstLM MCMI; Alan Bronte FRICS IRRV IRRV MCMI; Bob Trahern IRRV (Hons). Faculty review Editor’s welcome

Faculty Board update 13 This month, Bob Trahern and the Local Taxation and Revenues Faculty Board tackle the MoJ enforcement proposals

Revenues roundup 14 Get to know more about behaviour, and you’ll get more information from your customers, suggests Alistair Townsend “Welcome to the latest issue of Student focus 15 Insight, one of the key links between With exam season close the IRRV and its membership.” at hand, Bill Lovell is here to help It’s not the only link, of course, and our magazine always incorporates advertisements which highlight the many services the Institute has on offer. Whether it’s the latest publication, an event which focuses on your specialism, professional training, or one of our popular subscription services, you’ll find details here and of course on our website at www.irrv.net This month’s magazine brings you another award Benefits bulletin 16 winner, in the shape of the 2011 Revenues Team of Dave Hendy’s wish list includes less of the Year, Shepway District Council. The team are on hand to tell their tale at a time when many of you will ‘big brother’ and more of true localism! no doubt have just put the finishing touches to your 2012 award submissions. Third sector view 17 As ever, we try to balance our contributions between Colin Holden is back, with a roundup of the the professions represented by the Institute, and we major issues affecting the third sector aim to get the right mix of detail and ‘high level’ input too. Alan Murdie and Alistair Townsend are back to Valuation corner 18 offer help and advice on good practice in the revenues field, and Simon Bailey and the Department for Work Andrew Casstles focuses on contaminated and Pensions tackle Universal Credit implementation, land, and Geoff Fisher presents his own albeit from different perspectives. This month’s ‘what to see in East London’ guide ‘Valuation Corner’ turns its attention to contaminated land, together with a final Olympic update presented by Institute Past President Geoff Fisher. Amongst the many other features, Bill Lovell offers What’s in the next issue... a few last-minute tips for students sitting exams this – Paul Sanderson introduces a new month. If you are engaged in those preparations, and ‘Insight international‘ series if you have a tale to tell, whether it relates to your IRRV student journey or your ‘day job’, do contact me on – Management special with Sean Langley [email protected] – the editorial team is and Mark Davies always on the lookout for new contributors, so don’t – Local council tax support under the spotlight be shy! JUNE 2012

John Roberts IRRV (Hons) is Managing Editor INSIGHT of the Institute’s magazines 3 IRRV LONDON COURSES 2012/13 Application Deadline: 30th August 2012

The course: • Promotes best administrative practices; • Covers key legislation; • Provides expert tuition; • Includes face-to-face tuition in Central London; • Includes study material as BOOK NOW part of course fee.

get qualified • courses available now • by day release • October 2012 • the way forward

IRRV Level 3 Certificate IRRV Professional Diploma The IRRV Certificate Qualification is for Local The IRRV Professional Diploma is for those wishing to Revenues and Benefits staff up to middle management progress to senior positions and successful candidates level. It may be taken as a freestanding qualification will be awarded with the IRRV Diploma Qualification. or as a stepping stone to study for the new IRRV The Diploma is at Level 5 (of the current 8-level Professional Diploma. The Certificate is at Level 3 framework) in England and Wales, and Level 9 (of the current 8-level framework) in England and (of the current 12-level framework) in Scotland. Wales, and Level 5 (of the current 12-level framework) in Scotland. These courses run over three terms, usually one day a week starting in October 2012 and continuing until May 2013. Courses will be held at the IRRV offices (a short walk from Chancery Lane and Holborn tube stations).

Apply now – visit: www.irrv.net/courses; call: 020 7691 8996; email: [email protected]

IRRV PUBLICATIONS

Annotated Council Tax Legislation (2012 Update Out Soon!)

Annotated Council Tax Legislation is a comprehensive 3 volume set, containing all the relevant parts of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as well as appropriate sections and schedules from the Local Government Acts of 1999 and 2003, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Greater London Authority Act 1999. All statutory instruments from 1992 to the publication date are included, and all amendments brought about by these regulations and orders have been made to the originating text. Annotated Council Tax Legislation is supplied in hard copy format together with a downloadable, electronic PDF version.

www.irrv.net Chief Executive’s notes

Membership growth is the key to strengthening our Institute, says David Magor

The IRRV’s Council and staff are all new valuer members we must improve the resources available working hard to strengthen the Institute as part of the overall membership package. in these difficult times. Over the years The Institute is represented at the highest level on government groups and boards developing new legislation we have served governments of all and practice. I serve on the two most senior groups involved complexions. The views of senior staff with rates retention and local support for council tax. Institute and Council members are sought by members also serve on the sub-groups supporting these government and opposition alike. initiatives. Members also have significant roles in the These approaches can be informal development of all aspects of welfare and enforcement reform, to an individual, or formal through with active involvement on the most influential groups. Valuer members of our Council are involved in all the joint appointments to boards and liaison groups with the Valuation Office Agency, the Valuation working parties. Tribunal Service and the Department for Communities and Currently we are represented on all the key groups Local Government. The current President of the Institute is the implementing change, whether it be local government finance, Chairman of The European Group of Valuers’ Associations, welfare reform, the implementation of enforcement law, and has a significant role in the development of valuation or offering advice on the significant activity in valuation over standards both in Europe and worldwide. the next two years. To meet these obligations, we need a strong membership together with effective representation on the National Council and the three Faculty Boards. We also need an active and “If every current member of vibrant network of local Associations, with a varied programme the Institute introduced a new of activities. The challenge is what do we need to do to meet member in their field, we would these objectives? The membership of the Institute needs to grow. We need exceed our objective.” to reduce the dependency on commercial revenue, but more significantly we need to grow our influence in both the public and private sectors. Every billing authority needs to have an We are in a strong position, but we must have a membership Institute member in a key position of its administration. We that matches this involvement. If every current member of the need to re-establish our qualifications as a prerequisite Institute introduced a new member in their field, we would for employment in revenues and benefit administration. exceed our objective. Let’s move forward together to meet The Institute needs to be part of the private sector, with this challenge. members in every element of the food chain that supports revenue and benefits administration. We need to emphasise

the importance of valuation in our professional sphere. We JUNE 2012 need to make it clear that the Institute is the only professional body with a direct focus on all aspects of this important subject. The most effective way of achieving this is to grow the INSIGHT valuer membership both at home and abroad, but to attract David Magor OBE IRRV (Hons) is Institute Chief Executive 5 News and events LATEST NEWS Association news TEGoVA celebrates valuation standards launch Thames Valley Association The European Group of Valuers’ Associations (TEGoVA) Pictured (left) are Helen Curtis, the newly elected has launched its European Valuation Standards 2012 President of the Thames Valley Association, (EVS 2012), in step with EU action to stabilise financial together with Immediate Past President, Tess Reeves. Helen’s ‘reign’ started with a and real estate markets, during the latest round of presentation by the DWP’s Jonathan Bottomer meetings, this time held in Krakow, Poland. and Ian Savigar of Bath and North East Somerset IRRV President and TEGoVA Chairman, Roger Messenger, said, “European on the latest developments on Universal Credit. valuers have learnt from the crisis and are determined to be part of the solution. An uneventful start... not likely! EVS 2012 is the result of three years’ work to bolster real estate valuation standards, education requirements and ethical codes to ensure that valuers are equipped to guide European financial institutions and citizens in turbulent markets. And our Recognised European Valuer scheme has created an EVS- proficient pan-European elite, enabling cross-border investors to identify local valuers qualified to a recognisable European level.” Jan Olbrycht MEP, Chairman of the European Parliament’s URBAN Intergroup, said, “We cannot forget that housing policy and property law are not EU competences. However, real estate is important for European policies. It is welcomed that European Valuation Standards comprise specific applications helping translate EU policies into valuation practice (for example in the field of energy efficiency of buildings). For the URBAN Intergroup at the European Parliament, the contact with TEGoVA is very helpful.”

The IRRV’s Valuer magazine regularly features the work of TEGoVA and its European partners. A special commemorative edition of Valuer, containing a number of key articles published in recent editions, has been issued to coincide with the launch of EVS 2012. To obtain a copy, or to subscribe to Valuer if you do not already receive it, contact the IRRV at [email protected]

Notice of ‘benefit cap’ Northern Ireland rating given by DWP revaluation announced Letters have now been sent to The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed that households who may be affected by preparations need to be put in place to undertake a the benefit cap, Minister for Welfare revaluation of non-domestic properties in Northern Reform Lord Freud has announced. Ireland in 2015, aligning with the rest of the UK. The letters will set out the help that will be provided to Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, said, “I am of the view that the revaluation get people into work, as well as exemptions to the cap, cannot wait any longer. While I recognise the problems for the struggling online help and an information helpline. businesses in Northern Ireland, it is important to understand that this will The benefit cap comes into effect in April 2013, certainly not be a panacea for all. It is about restoring fairness in how the burden and will limit the amount of benefit couples and lone is shared, not about granting widespread relief.” parent households can receive to around £500 a week, John Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Land and Property Services, the body or £26,000 a year – the equivalent of the average responsible for carrying out the revaluation exercise, said, “The Minister’s household income after tax, or a gross household salary announcement on a non-domestic revaluation is to be welcomed. It will allow of £35,000. Benefit claims for single people will be us to address changes that have taken place in the valuation levels in the limited to around £350. commercial property sector in Northern Ireland between If you want to learn more about the cap, and other 2001 and 2013, the relevant pressing issues being driven by the welfare reform valuation dates for the most process, Benefit magazine, part of the Institute’s recent and next revaluation. Benefits Advisory Service (BAS), is for your Regular revaluations are a key organisation. Join the BAS today on www.irrv.net element of the rating system, www.irrv.net and make sure that liability for rates is fairly spread across all

INSIGHT sectors in line with up to date 6 rental values.” . Another first for the IRRV... Anotherfirstforthe complaints were all high on the list, but Andrew reminded the local local the reminded Andrew but all were high onlist, the complaints industry bailiff the to relation in particularly faced, organisation his complaint of areas key the on in homed who Hobley, Andrew contributor, Insight indeed. hard very claimant age working the hitting potentially ‘vulnerable’ the as effectively, demonstrated was support local of scheme any of impossibility the where Durham, and Ashfield as such authorities from gleaning was he information the and Hertsmere, with out carrying was he work the cited arrangements.” new the of aresult as suffering people inevitable” are challenges other and review “Judicial benefit. in reductions of small debts enforce to trying with associated pitfalls the audience, the to relevance direct of and scheme, anew in parishes involving by tax council on areferendum triggering of danger the to carefully think very to needed scheme countywide ajoint of thinking anyone and increase, to need would provisions off write that delegates warned David style, punchy customary his In off. event the kick to tax, council for support presentation now legendary his delivered Magor David addition. awelcome provided debate, course pre-examination IRRV’s the attending students for opportunity the and parking, free location, central The ayear. many for profession the in agendas moving fast and exciting most the of one is what on views share to mixed exhibitors and delegates 200 in area, which and exhibition an adjacent theatre lecture purpose-built to another new venue this year. newvenue this another to moved reasons, forright over all the years the Conference and Enforcement Collection Institute’s The ...and anothersuccess! The The impossible” is this say to needs “Someone Executive Chief IRRV information, latest very the with Updated Keele University Local Government Ombudsman , he said, “if take authorities against vulnerable action said, , he . Fees, ownership of goods, and failure to deal with with deal to failure and goods, of ownership . Fees, , which has led has anomadic existence , which proved to be an ideal option, with a superb asuperb with option, ideal an be to proved before implementing it. His warnings extended extended warnings His it. implementing before exceptions resulted in the 10% cut cut 10% the in resulted exceptions was represented by regular was represented News and events: Collection and Enforcement Conference , David continued, as he as continued, , David arising out to join in the the in join to on the local local the on a new description of the grey areas where avoidance and evasion evasion and avoidance where areas grey the of description a new with audience the amused Roger consistent”. and fair are they if only “ declared, , he unhelpful” and wrong be can “Exemptions liability. in reductions such of benefit the feel longer no should agriculture that observation ithis personal within incorporating non of and reliefs domestic exemptions areview for plea spirited session. the concluded event, year’s this through running atheme session, answer and question Alively unveiled. be should scheme the of one year in position starting LAs’ calculating for methodology the as well as issues on policy in summer, the position anticipated government’s the when is Consultation Lords. of House the to moves it before Reading, Third the by followed Stage, Report Commons of House the is stage next The Commons. of House the in stage Committee the as well as Readings, Second and First through passed had Bill the that confirming date, to business rate retention proposals the of summary adetailed delivered Training Officer, and Research them. by accepted be must responsibility so bailiff, the employed who people the were they that delegates authority The afternoon saw Institute President Roger Messenger launch into a into launch Messenger Roger President Institute saw afternoon The Policy Institute’s the Alexander, Janet break, lunch the to up Leading . Janet explained the process the . Janet explained and reliefs are fine, but fine, are reliefs and ,

7 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 News and events: Collection and Enforcement Conference

become blurred – “evoision is what we are stated Gordon! Delegates returned to their event saw a lively debate covering the motion, seeing”, he said. accommodation to prepare for the evening’s “The proposals from the MOJ will deliver a The first day concluded with back to back gala dinner event, which saw the combining workable and effective enforcement reform”. presentations from Carla-Maria and Gordon of the Collection and Enforcement Conference Paul Caddy of the Marston Group, Paul Sharpe Heath, tackling the reform of council tax participants with the students from the pre- of Equita and Mike Shang of Rossendales reliefs and exemptions and the avoidance examination course, with a handsome £740 presented in favour, with Steve Everson of and evasion of empty rate respectively. raised during the evening for the President’s CIVEA, Kevin McCarthy of Newlyn and Paul Both demonstrated wide knowledge of their chosen charities. Kelly of Jacobs bravely attempting a spirited subject area, in addition to forthright views defence. The session, ably chaired by David on the need to tackle some of the embedded Magor, saw a ‘pre-debate’ show of hands problems within the legislation. “Avoidance “Avoidance of empty with only three delegates against the motion, of empty rate is the new national sport”, and at the end, the dissenters had been rate is the new reduced to only one! Justice for the Ministry of national sport.” Justice – we will have to wait and see!

The second day was devoted wholly to the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) consultation on the future of enforcement, which has received a substantial airing in recent issues of this magazine. Following a short presentation by Anne Marie Goddard of the MOJ, which spelt out the proposals, speakers and delegates alike launched into discussion, covering all aspects of the proposals, ranging from fees, regulation changes and training. The main players from the bailiff industry were well represented, and arguably the highlight of the

New members

Colette Martin Isle Of Wight Council Student members QCF/SVQ members Aimee Adams Isle Of Wight Council Name Employer Name Employer Claire Sarr Isle Of Wight Council Jeremiah Adams Havering London BC Maxine Baker Southwark London BC Helen McCartan Craven DC Karina Mcloughlin Uttlesford DC Charlotte Beaumont Southwark London BC Sarah Oxley Uttlesford DC Celine Hynes-Adjei Southwark London BC Fellow members Aimee Sims Uttlesford DC Nathan Olukayode Southwark London BC Name Employer Vicki Wellstood Cherwell DC Jyotika Patel Southwark London BC Simon Tivey PricewaterhouseCoopers Alison Hodgson E. Riding Of Yorks. Council Vina Reeves Southwark London BC (PwC) Robert Yeadon E. Riding Of Yorks. Council Brigitta Foster Maidstone BC David Cornes Jacobs Certificated Bailiffs Jackie Asher Shepway DC Andrew Williams Wilks Head & Eve Affiliate members Rachel Chapman Maidstone BC Ian Charman Turner Morum Name Employer Joanna Denny Maidstone BC Jack Goulde London & Berkshire Ltd Sue Nelson Luton BC Rebecca Edwards Shepway DC David Martin N/a Technician members Jemma Graves Maidstone BC Antonio Masella Valuation Tribunal Service Stephen Hall Maidstone BC Ian McGill Stimpsons Consultant Name Employer Adetolu Jones-Odeh Tunbridge Wells BC Surveyors Ltd Linda Bishop Breckland DC Phil Kittlety Maidstone BC Roger Messenger Wilks Head And Eve Lisa Luker Breckland DC Tracey McGuirk Maidstone BC Jerry Schurder Gerald Eve LLP Amber Ashford Mouchel Shared Services Indhresen Naidoo Tunbridge Wells BC Peter Scrafton Self Employed Corporate members Paul Ross Maidstone BC Simon Stone Merjs Chartered Surveyors Name Employer Nick Russell Maidstone BC Solomon Levy S Levy Martin Stanford Stanford & Green Ltd Dani Cooke Teignbridge DC William McKaig BNP Paribas Real Estate Ian Buckingham North Warwickshire BC Jeni Williams Teignbridge DC Michael Garvey Stupples Chander Garvey David Hounsell Mouchel Shared Services James Thompson Drivers Jonas Deloitte Honours members Simon Tanner Mouchel Shared Services Jeremy Boyers Colliers International UK Name Employer Craig Bishop Mouchel Shared Services Philip Harrison Colliers International UK Richard Smith Fifield Glyn Chelsie Johnson West Oxfordshire DC Paul Russell Specialist Law Consultant www.irrv.net Daniel Oliver West Oxfordshire DC Robert Brown Sanderson Weatherall LLP William Peachey West Oxfordshire DC Tracy Crowe Consultant Katie Smythe Middlesbrough Council Patrick Doherty Self Employed INSIGHT 8 Russell Phillips Isle Of Wight Council Roger Littlewood Gerald Eve LLP IRRV Level 3 Diploma in Local Taxation and Benefits Advice (QCF) –outline (QCF) Advice Benefits and Taxation Local in 3Diploma Level IRRV –outline (QCF) Advice Benefits and Taxation Local in 2Certificate Level IRRV Milica Rakocevic – Corby Borough Council Borough – Corby Rakocevic Milica Council Borough –Kettering Piggott Ruth students: Tax Benefit Council and Housing following the to congratulations offers Insight month, This Vocational qualification succ The qualifications will be regularly reviewed reviewed willbe regularly qualifications The environment. taxation local and benefits changing the to adaptable be will they areas. these in people advise who but business, taxation with deal or claims benefit process to required not are who authorities, including local organisations, advice-giving in staff at aimed are 3, and and 2 Levels at offered be will qualifications The below). (see so done not have you if views your add to time still is There Local TaxationLocal in qualifications competence-based two launch to proposal its in interest surveying been recently has Institute The Proposed new qualifications in L in qualifications new Proposed AG04 AG03 AG02 AG01 FOUR FURTHER MANDATORY UNITS 22 Unit 21Unit FROM UNIT OPTIONAL ONE 19Unit 18Unit 16Unit 15Unit 14Unit 1 Unit SIX MANDATORY UNITS B04 A11 A10 A09 A08 A06 A04 A03 AG04 FROM UNITS OPTIONAL FOUR 20Unit 17Unit TWO MANDATORY UNITS Progress with the qualification will be reported in due course. due in reported be will qualification the with Progress As As QCF unit-based qualifications QCF Interact with clients using a range of media of arange using clients with Interact and clients guidance advice with interactions Develop service guidance and advice the of use make to clients Support and guidance for advice clients with communication Establish fraud detecting of principles and law the Understand services Benefit and Taxation Local of administration the Understand cases Tax Benefit Council and Housing non-routine to relating law the Understand cases Tax Benefit Council and Housing routine to relating law the Understand recovery and enforcement taxation local to relating law the Understand and billing valuation taxation to law local the relating Understand decisions (knowledge) appeals againstProcess authority Benefits or Taxation Local of administration the in effectively Work Recognise when delivering diversity customer service customers from calls telephone incoming with Deal face to face customers with Deal service customer in mile extra the Go Make customer personal service customers about information Process organisation your and yourself of impression apositive customers Give customers with effectively Communicate media of arange using clients with Interact Taxation Local of principles general the Understand Tax Benefit Council and Housing of principles general the Understand Benefits Advice Benefits and

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9 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 Running the Institute Insight presents Gary Watson’s latest summary of events at the centre, following the April round of IRRV Council meetings

IRRV HQ was the venue for the second cycle Commercial Services Committee students for many a year. On membership, an of quarterly council meetings in 2012. This The meeting was chaired by Carol Cutler. Key update on the steps being taken to increase is the permanent venue for all meetings of reports considered by Committee included: membership was provided. This was a key the Institute’s Council, and whilst meetings • sales and sponsorship initiative, not just for committee and Council, are contained in the one day, the need to • conferences (including Performance Awards) but for the Institute itself. The aim, as for ensure proper governance remains paramount. • professional meetings and training courses all professional bodies, was to achieve a A summary of what was discussed is • Forum (and Benefit Advisory) Services better balance between membership and detailed below: • update on activities in Scotland and professional income, whilst retaining the Northern Ireland professional standing of the organisation. Council • Communications Working Group (magazines, The meeting was chaired by the President, website and publications). Law and Research Committee Roger Messenger. Key reports considered by The meeting was chaired by Dave Chapman. Council included: Committee reviewed the new arrangements Key reports considered by Committee included: • reports of Standing Committees for securing sales and sponsorship, and • reports of the three Faculty Boards • amendments to the Constitution of endorsed the strategy put forward. The • meetings with government bodies Faculty Boards Benefits Conference held in February • planning for welfare reform • Chief Executive’s report was reviewed – feedback from delegates • review of the rating of machinery and • President’s report. and exhibitors indicated it was a very business assets successful event. An update was given • research into ‘green’ taxation and European Policy and Resources Committee on the arrangements for the Collection funding opportunities The meeting was chaired by Richard and Enforcement Conference, and a tele- • appeals against liability Harbord. Key reports considered by conference was scheduled for May to agree • rates deferment scheme. Committee included: the programme for the Annual Conference • management accounts at 31 December 2011 in October. The updated programme for Since the last meeting, the Institute (through • management accounts at 29 February 2012 professional meetings and training courses the Faculty Boards) has been actively involved • administration was also noted. Early indications on the Forum in putting together responses to the following • media and marketing. Service were that numbers were holding up consultation documents (copies of the well, with new authorities joining this year. responses are available on request): The final accounts for 2011 were received, • review of business rates in Wales and it was noted the audit would take place Education and Membership Committee • costs in tribunals – England and Wales in the week commencing 21 May 2012. The meeting was chaired by Julie Holden. Key • council tax support in Wales. The accounts would then be reported to the reports considered by Committee included: Annual General Meeting on 3 October 2012. • qualifications An update was also received on the two The management accounts at 29 February • Recognised European Valuer consultation documents currently being 2012 were also received, and it was agreed • Accreditation Service considered by the Faculty Boards. These were: that monthly accounts would be referred to • courses • mandatory consideration of revision key Committee members between meetings, • membership. before appeal to ensure the budget could be kept under • transforming bailiff action. constant review. The report on administration Committee received a report on the existing covered a wide range of issues affecting the qualifications, together with the planned Although a number of reports are deemed governance of the Institute, including the qualifications in Enforcement and Non- to be ‘commercially sensitive’ (particularly current consultation exercise being conducted Domestic Rates. There appeared to be those considered by Commercial Services with the Associations. A progress report on demand for these two new qualifications Committee, where a number of papers media and marketing within the Institute was from employers. The way forward on the are only circulated to those that sit on this also received. Recognised European Valuer was agreed, as committee), national Council remains keen for were the changes to the Accreditation Service, the membership to be made aware of matters which was now ready to be re-launched. discussed at the quarterly cycle of meetings.

www.irrv.net Concern was expressed that less students Should any member require further information were enrolling on IRRV courses that lead to the on the reports considered by Council at this Institute’s examinations – this was highlighted cycle of meetings, they should contact Gary

INSIGHT Gary L Watson IRRV (Hons) is Deputy by the spring pre-examination course, Watson on [email protected] 10 Chief Executive of the Institute which had attracted the lowest number of journey back into history Government Bill, which it was agreed agreed was it which Bill, Government London the on discussion hour atwo with concluded meeting The present. gentlemen 76 with place, took duly This April. in held be would members for Meeting General a agreed was it when 1884, 1 March on occasion! this on disco no was There evening. the of pleasantness the enhanced greatly had which dinner, annual the at arrangements musical the of conduct his for Goddard Mr to conveyed thanks of avote with closed meeting The obtained. London and MunicipalBill had been the as soon as convened be Committee of the Executive an meeting immediate agreed was It Shoreditch. of Parish the andnominated to appointed represent duly was Pill Mr and represented, were Association Rate Collectors Metropolitan the within parishes all essential was It Shoreditch. from no representation therewas that currently noted Committee ameeting. of advance in Secretary Honorary the to sent be to was – this discussion for asubject introduce to liberty at was member Any October. and July April, in held Meetings General with year, each January in held be would AGM the that state to amended were Institute the of rules The attendance. in those by approved and read was Report Annual The know!). not do we what of (90% attendance in were 90% when held was (AGM) Meeting General 1883. throughout Secretary Honorary acting as services his all for Tupper Mr to again 15 of guineas agratuity approved later, aweek just meeting, next The 1882. April in formed was Institute the since services his for Hughes, Mr Chairman, the to thanks’ of vote a‘hearty with concluded meeting annual dinner,the forthcoming and the attend to allowed were friends) their (and members additional Three off. signed 1883 was for report annual the when 1884, 5January on year the of meeting held first their Committee Executive The Executive of the IRRV the of Executive Chief Deputy is (Hons) IRRV LWatson Gary The Executive Committee met again met Committee Executive The Executive the 1884, April 2nd On Annual second the day, the in Later Gary Gary Watson’s next stage of year for the 1884 isthe connection with the Lodger Claims. The The Claims. Lodger the with connection Hall in Vestry in Kensington was detained he as July, in back non-attendance his for apologising Mr Parkhouse with opened day, same the held Meeting, General The approved. duly were which meeting, last the from minutes the was business of item only the 1884, October 25th on again Association. the of concerns the consider and away take to agreed had –he MP Dilke Wentworth Charles Sir upon waited had that deputation the on present those brief to Chair the by taken was opportunity The date. afuture at back brought be would item the hoped was it However, absence. his in matter the consider to inappropriate felt was it discussed, be to item an of notice given had who person one the was he as and meeting, the attend to inability his indicating Mr from Parkhouse, received been had Atelegram attended. 15 persons –only July in Saturday last the on held be would Meeting General the that agreeing by concluded MP. meeting Dilke The Wentworth Charles Sir to sent be would that synopsis aprepared MP, read and Firth Mr with granted interview an to referred then chair The 1884. for membership their renewed had –178 members received was membership on update an 1884, 7June on proposals. the over concerns to raise the Home Secretary, necessary, if and MP Firth Mr on wait to authorised be Vice-Chair and Chair the that agreed unanimously was It authorities. local of hands the in left be would collection of work the whilst corporation, new the by over taken being London in collectors rate the of half see would proposals The collectors. rate on impact its and Bill Government London the on bereavement. There was lengthy discussion adomestic to due attend to unable was Secretary Honorary the when 10 1884, May meeting. the next at detail further in considered be should When the Executive Committee met Committee the Executive When met, next Committee the Executive When on met then Committee Executive The “Mr Parkhouse“Mr again gave his apologies, From the on this occasion he had been bitten by adog.”on he this occasion had bitten been Contact him on [email protected] on him Contact history. Institute’s the on questions any answer and try to happy also is Executive Chief Deputy The Institute. the of memories personal own their with forward come and feature the towards to contribute are invited Members no disco! still but arrangements... musical the for responsibility Mr Goddard again accepted Dinner. Annual the for arrangements the to met finalise the Dinner Committee and the meeting, approved, following were AGM, the to taken be to Fund, Benevolent the of details final The dog. the with encounter his after bed to confined remained he as attend, to unable still was Parkhouse Mr when 1884, December 20 on should remain unchanged. of the Dinner Committee membership that and approved, being January in AGM the for arrangements the with concluded meeting The shillings. five pay to was member each and compulsory, be to was it that were Key Fund. for theparameters Benevolent rules the up draw to agreed was committee Asub- Fund! Benevolent the on aclaim in resulted this is noThere of whether record adog. by bitten been had he occasion this again on gaveParkhouse his apologies, Mr when 1884 6December on meeting January. in Meeting General the to it take would in who turn Committee, Executive the to referred was matter The widows. as well as members, of sickness the to apply and shouldproposal would be endorsed the agreed was It formed. was Association the which for objects the of one meet did this recognised was it although annum, per shillings five the pay could collectors rate funds. such had solicitors) (including bodies other that and goodwill and charity promoted acts such that Fund, aBenevolent of formation the for was forward put then he motion The final meeting of the year took place place took year the of meeting final The held next their Committee Executive The over whether was someconcern There

11 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 IRRV PUBLICATIONS

Local Taxation Case Law (Update Out Now!)

Local Taxation Case Law contains comprehensive but manageable case law summaries. Important decisions, both past and present, are included. Cases are summarised in a few pages, and the main points in judgements are explained, together with reference to statutory provisions. The book is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and topically, as well as by all parties, so that relevant cases can be located quickly and easily. Local Taxation Case Law is supplied in hard copy format together with an electronic PDF version.

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Scottish Conference Autumn Pre-Examination Course Crieff, 5 & 6 September 2012 London, 2 – 5 November 2012

Annual Conference Scottish Benefits Conference Telford, 3 – 5 October 2012 Crieff, 5 & 6 December 2012

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Consultations, This month, Bob Trahern and the Local Taxation and challenges and Revenues Faculty Board tackle the MoJ enforcement conundrums proposals

I write this piece just days before the LTR Faculty amount is also payable. A final fixed cost of the issue of multiple warrants – what Board meets to finalise its response to the £105 would be applied at the ‘sale stage’. framework needs to be in place to deal with Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) consultation paper, The Institute’s response will go wider these? It is crucial that the fee structure that Transforming Bailiff Action. By the time than the specific questions raised in the is eventually agreed upon is correctly set for this edition of the magazine goes to print, the consultation. It will consider whether the debtors, local authorities and enforcement Institute’s response will have been posted to trigger points are appropriate, whether agents, otherwise the popularity of this well- the IRRV website in line with a commitment to the fees are appropriate, and whether the used, tried and tested enforcement tool may publish consultation responses at least three threshold uplifts are justified – the fees wane – and that has public purse implications weeks before the government’s deadline, to could significantly load a council tax debt. for central government and a knock-on effect assist all members in understanding our position, We anticipate that the forthcoming localised for all local taxpayers. and to help them in drafting their responses. council tax support scheme will generate an This is a very complex (and large) consultation increase in council taxpayers having small document, the outcomes of which will have council liability amounts in view of their Developing localised council tax schemes important ramifications for enforcement activities circumstances – these fees could be viewed continues to exercise our thoughts and minds, in respect of a wide range of local authority debt as disproportionate to any of those liabilities as these will have wide ranging implications types in England and Wales. The MoJ has that subsequently become debts. Is the 7.5% for revenue practitioners. We all need to been working on proposals to modernise the additional percentage an appropriate figure ensure we are engaged with the process of fee structure for some years now, and has to use for all debts over £1000, be they big development, consultation and undertaking brought in independent advice on how best to or small? And how does it tie in with the aim impact assessments of possible proposals at achieve this – the result is this very thorough and to grow business through the forthcoming the outset. It will take many of us back to the comprehensive report and challenging set business rates retention scheme? days of the poll tax, and in many cases worse, of proposals. and present significant challenges for collecting Currently fees belong to the local authority, monies from some of the most vulnerable and bailiffs apply fees for first and subsequent people in our communities if the 10% cut is visits. Those working in the enforcement “It will consider whether passed on. The extra revenue powers around field will know well that various working the trigger points are second homes and empty properties will arrangements have been developed between appropriate, whether assist in the generation of extra income, but local authorities and enforcement agents over everything needs collecting, and particularly in the years. MoJ seeks to bring in major change the fees are appropriate, two-tier areas like my own, where this presents to established practice. It proposes a three and whether the even greater challenges than those faced stage structure in which fees belong to the threshold uplifts are by our unitary counterparts in terms of who bailiff and are triggered at key stages in the carries the risk and how rewards are shared. process, rather than, in part, on a ‘per visit’ justified – the fees could This could lead to some very interesting basis. A £75 fee would be triggered at the significantly load a conundrums over the coming months around ‘administration and compliance’ stage, when council tax debt.” administration and collection projections. the notice of enforcement is issued. A £230 fee would be triggered at the ‘enforcement You can contact me via: stage’ when bailiffs attend the premises on [email protected] if you have a first visit, and for debts greater than £1000 There are gaps in the outcomes in this comments or questions on this and other local a 7.5% additional percentage of the debt consultation. For example, it does not address taxation and revenues issues. JUNE 2012 Bob Trahern IRRV (Hons) is a Past President of the Institute, member of the IRRV Council, and Chairman of the Local INSIGHT Taxation and Revenues Faculty Board 13 revenues roundup

Get to know more about The nudge behaviour, and you’ll get more information from your customers, suggests Alistair Townsend theory

For many years, revenues practitioners have Tell people what others are doing argument is followed through to suggest that been regularly reviewing documentation to try • highlight the positive behaviour of others by highlighting the impact of unpaid council to make whatever is issued more effective, in Reward desired behaviour tax bills on council services, fewer people will terms of eliciting either payments or information. • actively incentivise or reward behaviour that be inclined to avoid paying. Over the years, we have learned through trial saves time or money Of course, the irony of all this is that the and error which types of correspondence get Highlight the risk and impact of dishonesty content of so much that we send out is results and which don’t, and that by changing • emphasise the impact fraud or late payment prescribed. Which Revenues Officer wouldn’t them regularly better results are experienced. has on public services, as well as the love to create the demand notices and In my case, I always felt that regular changes in consequences for those caught. accompanying information in a form that documentation helped to keep responses high helps collection? Instead, we remain stuck simply on the hypothesis that the same old “This trial was with legislative constraints that include a documents became familiar – and as we know, variety of information, much of which is of familiarity breeds contempt and over time the reported to reduce little interest to customers, and which doesn’t notices got ignored. incorrect discounts assist in encouraging payment, and even less, I knew this approach worked, but it turns valued at £240,000 encouraging notification of changes. Even out that what I didn’t know was that it is a though we include the messages we need to recognised element of what is commonly simply through using get across, they are hidden within the other referred to as the ‘nudge theory’. In February, the lessons detailed information which is prescribed in legislation. the Behavioural Insights Team of the Cabinet above to inform the Many local authorities do regularly review their Office produced a report called ‘Applying documents, but there is a risk that the purpose of behavioural insights to reduce fraud, letter design.” them gets lost in the process. It is quite common error and debt’. This report covers a variety of for authorities to have corporate branding rules lessons from academic research in the field of The report goes on to demonstrate the which are designed, quite reasonably, to ensure behavioural science. The paper is available from effectiveness of these academic insights that formats and wording are the same across the Cabinet Office website and it’s well worth a through various trials in different contexts. Many services, and to make sure that all documents read. I won’t regurgitate the whole thing here, are linked to the activities of HMRC, but it also are as easy as possible to read. Unfortunately, but the lessons are summarised as follows: includes a trial with Manchester City Council and however, if we are not careful we can end up Make it easy its single person discount review. This trial was with documents that everyone can read but • make it as straightforward as possible for reported to reduce incorrect discounts valued no-one does. The purpose of our documents is people to pay, for example by pre-populating at £240,000 simply through using the lessons to obtain payment or information, and this paper forms with information already held detailed above to inform the letter design. sets out some interesting examples of how we Highlight key messages The report discusses how rewarding could meet purpose more successfully by making • draw people’s attention to important desired behaviour can come in the forms some changes. information or actions required of them of prize draws for direct debit take-up, I would urge practitioners to read the Use personal language using the London Boroughs’ joint scheme paper and think about how to give some of • personalise language so that people understand as the example. Another example relates to the suggestions a go. The report mentions why a message is relevant to them highlighting the risk and impact of dishonesty. a ‘test, learn, adapt’ approach. This is Prompt honesty at key moments The report states that individuals tend to obviously crucial from a scientific standpoint • ensure that people are prompted to be think beyond the impact of dishonesty. The of demonstrating the principle, but it is equally honest at key moments when filling in a form report references ‘Deception: the Role of important if we are to determine whether the

www.irrv.net or answering questions Consequences’, the American Economic changes do actually achieve purpose. We need Review, by Gneezy (2005). Gneezy’s study to ensure that we collect data before and after Alistair Townsend FIRRV MCMI is Revenues showed that people are much less likely to lie so that the success or failure of the change INSIGHT and Benefits Service Delivery Manager with to someone else for personal financial gain if can be measured, and so that we can do more 14 Mouchel Government and Business Services the impact on other participants is high. This of what works and less of what doesn’t. Student focus

Nine top With exam season close at hand, Bill Lovell is here exam tips to help

Exams are a terrible and stressful thing to study 2. Study at the right time – Don’t study 7. Take a break – If studying is taking up too for, especially knowing that the outcome can when you are really tired. If you are also much time, it is easy to feel resentful and affect your pay and your standard of living as managing a job and a home life this is really to be discouraged. If life is also offering fun well as a longer term impact on your career and important. It is better to study for two hours as well as work, you will be better able to future prospects – not to mention that failure in one go when you can put that time aside, relax at your study. Take days off when you can mean giving up more time to go through rather than to try to cram in a daily hour of can, and when you are studying do take it all again! Not all student assessments are study at midnight. If you are too tired, you occasional breaks to refresh body and mind. made by examination, as your course might will be less likely to remember what you 8. Don’t plan to cram – All the accepted include assignments or other assessments, but studied, and you are likely to give up without advice is that cramming the night before an for many people the traditional exam is still the covering everything you intended. exam is proven to be useless. Tempting as it centre piece of studying. 3. Subjects – Ensure that you match your is to think that if you read something in the Being able to study in the proper manner study methods to the subject that you are toilet just before going into the exam room will achieve the best results, and with that studying. Not all are the same, so if a subject you might remember it, all the evidence is in mind, here are a few tips: requires figurework or mathematics, work that this does you no good at all. Last minute through example problems. That will help to information is the hardest to memorise, impress in your mind the reasoning behind whereas the best way to learn material is to “If you are too tired, you a problem, and the solution. Also remember go over it many times. If you are intending to will be less likely to that if you can’t deal with a problem before cram, you may not do enough of the earlier the exam, such as a valuation matter, or a study that is crucial to success. remember what you relief calculation, you won’t be able to do it 9. Review – As you work though your study studied, and you are in the exam room either. notes, ask yourself questions about what you likely to give up without 4. Planning – A study plan is by far the best have covered before moving on to the next way to begin any course of study. Allocate section. You might even find that saying out covering everything your time between subjects, taking account your answers out loud will help, as if you you intended.” of those that will need more time and those were trying to explain what you have learnt that will need less. Plan in advance how you to someone else. will use your time in the days, weeks and 1. Rewriting – Although you may have been months that you will be following the course. These hints may not work for everyone, as we provided with pre-prepared study notes or Don’t just let it happen! are all different, so it’s just a guide and not a other material, re-writing your own notes 5. Surroundings – Do you study best in your manual, but anything that helps you through is is a good approach to learning. When you favourite t-shirt, or in your PJs? OK, maybe well worth trying. re-write something you tend to give it more not PJs if you are studying in the office at thought than when you just read it. You lunchtime, but do make yourself comfortable, are likely to think more about what you are and make sure you will have maximum quiet writing, what it’s about, and why you have without distractions! Studying while the TV is written it. Perhaps in re-writing, you will on is a really risky strategy, but maybe some study précis the original notes, some of which you relaxing music might be OK. may not have looked at for weeks or months. 6. Lighting – Surprisingly, there can be a All this will help refresh your memory, and by difference here for men and women. Some re-writing notes that may be relevant in the sources suggest that men may study better top tips exam, you will provide yourself with another under a dimmer light, although obviously not IRRV Honorary Member Bill Lovell is a JUNE 2012 resource to look at in your final revision. You too dim! For women there are suggestions former examiner and member of the are more likely to be able to recall the notes that it is better to work in a brighter room Institute’s Examinations and Assessment that you re-wrote yourself if it turns out to be with little noise. Whether true or not, make Board. He is a freelance local government INSIGHT information that you need in the exam. sure the lighting is right for you. consultant and trainer. 15 benefits bulletin No hanging

Dave Hendy’s wish list includes less of baskets or ‘big brother’ and more of true localism! Christmas lights?

Being back on the road chasing jobs and Enough of my personal gripes with the attending some interviews has brought back inadequacies of modern technology, but some vivid memories of the important ‘dos I think there is a valid point to make here. and don’ts’ I can recall presenting as part of Being adequately prepared for change helps my recruitment and selection training exercises the change run that much smoother. As in the old style ‘HB Tech’ examination. The a household that currently has to rely on importance of items such as getting to the benefits, with my background, it’s perhaps not venue early, coming well prepared and with too surprising that I take a keen interest in the your questions to ask the panel are still new Universal Credit, PIP – the replacement significant, but another item would be on my for DLA - and the new council tax support list now too – don’t pay so much attention to system. So whilst scouring the internet daily your satnav map that you fail to realise you for new jobs, I take time out to read up on have turned into a bus lane! any new information. Bearing in mind how This was brought to my attention only when many millions of customers are to be affected I received a friendly £60 fine through the post by these changes, it is, however, somewhat with impressive colour photos of my driving surprising that very little publicity about what and the studious glare at the satnav screen, is to happen has yet been issued. Apart from oblivious to my fate. Maybe it’s time that the Institute’s own publications, it was our rather than ‘big brother is watching you’, ‘Motability’ magazine that contained useful we had ‘big brother helps you avoid making customer information. costly mistakes’, as the fine will take a hefty I’m sure councils will have been busy chunk out of my family’s weekly jobseekers scratching their heads about the new localised allowance! Surely with all this CCTV camera council tax support payment, working out technology, it could have warned my satnav where the 10% savings are going to come in advance? from. As I live in an area where with a higher density of pensioner customers, and such households are to be protected from the cut, the 10% saving (cut) will need to apply to a “Bearing in mind how reduced number of working age customers. for council tax benefit help anyway, so any many millions of As a former Benefits Manager, my logic and cuts are likely to be hard hitting. It is arguably customers are to be personal knowledge of the system would fairer to such customers that those with higher have suggested some more obvious areas for incomes in larger properties might not really affected by these the savings on such claims as those involving need the benefit of the 25% single person changes, it is, however, second adult rebate, with no ‘better buy’, as discount, as again paying the full charge somewhat surprising such households did not want to disclose their may not impact their household incomes and may have adequate incomes to finances significantly. that very little publicity pay full council tax bills. Likewise, claims with It also strikes me that if working age about what is to happen non-dependent deductions, particularly those customers were to be polled on what changes has yet been issued.” with higher rate deductions, may be best they would find more acceptable, for example placed to ask for greater contributions from a reduction in their council tax support from

www.irrv.net their household guests. 2012 or no grass-cutting, hanging baskets However, with my benefit customer hat or Christmas lights, I think I know what their on, the first thing that strikes me is that your answer might be! Perhaps ‘localism’ could be

INSIGHT Benefits Bulletin is brought to you this household circumstances normally have to trialled by giving local people a true voice on 16 month by Dave Hendy IRRV (Hons) be financially depressing in order to qualify how local funds are actually spent? Third sector view Of churches,

Colin Holden is back, co-operatives and with a roundup of the major issues affecting the Big Society Capital third sector

Tax relief cap causes unrest strongest economy in Europe, the majority unemployed in running a franchise business The big issue as I sit down to write this is the of their personal banking is carried out by • Social Stock Exchange, which supports tax relief cap that, it has been estimated, will mutuals not dissimilar to our credit unions. innovative and pioneering social sector cost the sector over £1bn in lost donations, organisations to develop solutions to major while only producing additional tax receipts for Prime Minister launches £600m social problems the government of £200m. Pressure has been ‘Big Society Capital’ • Think Forward Social Impact, which provides steadily building on the government over this The government has created a new support to disadvantaged young people issue since the Budget, and the consequences independently run financial institution to who are at risk of falling out of education, have become better known, with even the finance charities and community groups within employment or training. Church of England taking a critical stance. the UK, in the expectation of building a bigger, The government now appears to be squirming stronger society and growing the economy. The problem now will be finding other projects about this whole issue, so the sector is hoping The Big Society Capital, which has been to invest in. Social enterprise boasts a thriving for a fast resolution. dubbed ‘the world’s first social investment community of start-ups, but few are contenders For the Church of England, this comes on bank’, will invest in charitable and social for Big Society Capital cash. Many start-ups top of the extension of VAT to alterations in causes that can repay an investment through do not aspire to scale or to generate returns listed buildings, which could cost the church the income they generate. The initial funding for investors, and of those that do, too few are up to £20m per year. It has even written to of £600 million comes from dormant bank making the leap to being viable propositions. the Chancellor to request an exemption for accounts, which will provide £400 million, But not unsurprisingly, there has now sprung up places of worship. The Church of England is and the UK’s four largest high street banks a new industry around workshops on business responsible for 45 per cent of all Grade 1 (Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and RBS) which will plan writing, ‘how to pitch’, and ‘putting your buildings in the country, with 12,500 of its provide the remaining £200 million. social media to work’, as well as offering 16,000 buildings listed. Many of these are The launching of Big Society Capital is everything from desk space to accountancy undergoing alterations to make them more viewed as an important milestone in the advice to potential enterprises. accessible, such as providing toilet and kitchen Prime Minister’s drive to grow the economy Interestingly though, one industry expert facilities or disabled access, and prior to the and build a bigger, stronger society. It thinks that social investors rarely lament their Budget, these works had been exempt from will accept applications only from Social prospective investee’s lack of desk space or the standard rate of VAT. Investment Finance Intermediaries insufficient grasp of Twitter. Like their cousins (SIFIs), which are organisations that provide, in the commercial world, they focus on the Co-operatives and mutuals gain ground facilitate or structure financial investments for leadership team. Moreover, they look for In the 1970s they were the largest providers social sector organisations, and/or provide teams who will implement plans, put in place of banking services in the UK, and reaching investment-focused business support to such and manage processes and deliver against further back they comprised the largest organisations. Proposals will not be accepted targets – characteristics not always associated proportion of food retailers, but they are from front line social sector organisations, such with start-up entrepreneurs or the third sector now not seen as a major player in the as social enterprises, charities, and other not- in general. So it seems that to succeed, business world, despite continuing to thrive for-profit organisations, which are providing enterprises will need managers who are in Europe. But following recent past events, services directly to people and communities. leaders as well, and who can deliver investors the government and business leaders are The Big Society Capital has already agreed to the financial return they are looking for. looking for new ways of organising business, invest £3.6 million in five schemes, including: and are re-examining a business principle that • Triodos New Horizons, which will tackle youth has its roots in the 17th century. Even the unemployment by helping school leavers into

Prime Minister mentioned recently that Britain further education, work or training JUNE 2012 needed to transit to a ‘John Lewis’ economy • Community Generation Fund, which supports Colin Holden IRRV (Hons) is General and with mutuals, such as credit unions, the development of renewable energy in Manager of East Sussex Credit Union. thriving despite the gloomy economy, it seems deprived areas Contact him on colin.holden@credit- INSIGHT he may be right. In Germany, which has the • Franchising Works, which trains the union.org.uk 17 valuation corner

Andrew Casstles provides a new subject matter for Insight, with his view on Toxic cleaning up the contaminated land regime shock!

The existing regime Changes to be welcomed by the based on information provided to it by the The contaminated land regime, contained in building industry landowner or other interested parties Part 2A of the Environmental Protection The new guidance marks a clear shift in • designation of a site as contaminated can be Act 1990 (untouched for over ten years), regulatory focus – high risk sites (where there is postponed where the landowner or some other is being overhauled. Revised guidance and a clear case for intervention) will be prioritised. party undertakes to deal with the problem regulations came into force in April 2012. By focusing on high risk sites, it is hoped that • clarification on what constitutes a local authorities will be able to more easily ‘reasonable’ level of remediation. Contaminated land and planning dismiss low risk sites, resulting in a quicker, and The changes are important to the building thus cheaper, decision-making process. This The government’s impact assessment industry, because one of the methods used to is good news for developers, who are keen to (IA), issued as part of its consultation into deal with historic contamination is the planning avoid delays which can have major financial simplifying the regime, said that uncertainties system. Land affected by contamination must implications, for example extra interest payments in the existing statutory guidance ‘forced be made suitable for use if it is redeveloped, on their development loans. In addition, some developers and other businesses into and as a minimum, cannot be designated sites currently considered contaminated (and wastefully expensive remediation’. It goes on ‘contaminated land’ under the contaminated too costly to remediate/develop) may, under the to say that most of the cost savings as a result land regime once it has been redeveloped. new regime, become viable. of the changes would come from reducing Changes on how authorities decide when land Changes of particular interest are set the costs to developers of remediating is and isn’t contaminated will, therefore, out below: contaminated sites. impact the development process. • authorities are only to designate land as contaminated if no appropriate alternative A welcome change? Why the change? exists, for example dealing with the There is no doubt that, on the face of it, The Department for Environment Food contamination under the planning regime these changes appear to be good news for the and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) aims to: • a new four category test is to be building and construction industry. The new • simplify the current regime, make it more introduced to assist in identifying when rules are slanted in favour of the industry, and user-friendly and reduce uncertainty land is and is not ‘contaminated land’. The should make it easier for brown field sites to • speed up the process of determining what categories range from low risk (category 4 be developed. constitutes contaminated land – not contaminated) to high risk (category According to the IA it has been estimated • reduce unnecessary property blight by 1 – clearly contaminated). Categories 2 and that there could be around 300,000 hectares focussing only on high risk sites, and 3 cover less straightforward land, where of land in England and Wales where past • avoid unnecessary remediation, detailed consideration will be needed before activities could have led to contamination thus supporting the government’s deciding whether it is contaminated land (about the size of Greater London and ‘growth agenda’ by removing excessive (category 2) or not (category 3) Birmingham combined) – so the new cost burdens. • clarification that the presence of ‘normal’ guidance, especially on how to assess background levels of contamination will not whether such land is ‘contaminated’ in the Also, the bar has been raised in terms of water result in the land being contaminated legal sense, is not of merely academic interest. pollution being classed as contaminated land • clarification of the status of technical However, not everyone is pleased. Mary – the definition is changing from any ‘pollution screening levels (soil guideline values – Creagh, the Labour shadow environment of controlled waters’ or such pollution being SGVs) and generic assessment criteria secretary, is opposed to the proposed ‘likely to be caused’ to ‘significant pollution of (GACs) and how to use them. SGVs/GACs changes, and the Chartered Institute of controlled waters’ or ‘significant possibility of can be used to indicate when land is likely Environmental Health (CIEH) argues that significant pollution of controlled waters’. This to be well into category 4, but not as ‘one more detail is needed. They are concerned change provides clarity, and should make it size fits all’ remediation targets. It is hoped that the new guidance could lead to more easier to assess potential liability and reduce this will reduce the amount of unnecessary sites being developed, but with less regard the incidences where expensive remediation remediation that currently takes place for health protection. works are required. • where an authority has determined that a site The practical effect of the changes will, is likely to be contaminated, mandatory risk of course, depend on the way in which local

www.irrv.net summaries will be publicly available. Such authorities implement the new regulations and publicly available material should assist those guidance when determining individual cases. wishing to challenge the decision It also remains to be seen how much influence

INSIGHT Andrew Casstles, Partner, Penningtons • local authorities will be able to decide the CIEH may have on the passage of the new 18 Solicitors LLP whether a site is contaminated or not guidelines and regulations through Parliament. valuation corner Going to the

Geoff Fisher presents Olympics his own ‘what to see in 2012? East London’ guide

London Olympics: 27 July – 12 August 2012 Paralympics: 29 August – 9 September 2012

The Olympic site is in the Lower Lea Valley, 2012 London Olympics. on the boundaries of the London Boroughs The ‘View Tube’ on the ‘Greenway’ of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and provides a grandstand external view of the Waltham Forest, now with its own post Olympic zone (www.viewtube.co.uk), code of E20 – see the opening screen a short walk from DLR Pudding Mill Station, of ‘Eastenders’! as does the Olympic Shop window on the Take a ride on the Docklands Light top floor of John Lewis at Westfield. The Railway (DLR) with no drivers (computer latter view now includes row after row of controlled, so don’t panic) on the Woolwich hospitality tents adjacent to the Water branch from Stratford, and see the new Polo stadium. Thames Cable Car from Greenwich to Westfield Stratford shopping centre Excel Centre (where many Olympic provides some 360 shops and eating events are being held), the new Siemens places, a cinema, bowling alley, three Innovation Centre, London City Airport, hotels and a casino... and one of the main with planes taking off between the old entrances to the Olympic Park. This is docks, and the historic Woolwich Free the largest new urban shopping centre in Ferry. This Royal Docks area is now an Europe, and forms part of the Stratford City enterprise zone, attracting business rate private regeneration of the large Stratford relief, and regeneration is progressing on Railway Lands. various sites, including Canning Town. Sport has always been strong in East Look out for the Olympic Main Stadium, London, but the area will now have Aquatic Centre, ArcelorMittal Orbit (the top sporting facilities in the Legacy 115 metre observation tower), the Athletes developments. Spurs and Arsenal are just Village, Basketball ‘Tent’, Velodrome, to the north west, and Leyton Orient and and the temporary Water Polo stadium, West Ham are close by to the east. David with the riverside park area threading its Beckham was born in Leytonstone, of way through the Stratford Olympic zone. course, and many other famous people were Imagine the Legacy in a few years time, born and bred in this East London area! with five new E20 residential communities So there you are – my final Insight around the new Queen Elizabeth Park, or Olympic update – Olympics 2012 – be part the pre-Olympic industry which has been of it, and enjoy East London! compulsory purchased to make way for the Pictures courtesy of London 2012 JUNE 2012 Geoff Fisher is an IRRV Past President and professional consultant at Strettons

chartered surveyors. Contact him on INSIGHT [email protected] 19 Cover story A rewarding experience!

That’s the view of Our area Our challenge Shepway District Council is located on With the unique attributes of the district, Jane Worrell and the south coast of Kent, covering the the revenues team is faced with an annual Shepway District main town of Folkestone and the historic challenge to achieve high collection rates Council’s revenues Cinque Port towns of Hythe, New Romney and maintain customer satisfaction for the and Lydd. With a population of just over service offered. team, as they look 100,000, 47% live in Folkestone and 30% In 2008, revenues and benefits back on their 2011 in the Cinque Port towns. were experiencing problems with poor IRRV ‘Revenues Although it is not a deprived district overall performance, backlogs and low staff (ranked 126 out of 354 according to the morale. Changes began in 2009, with Team’ Performance latest (2007) Index of Multiple Deprivation) a restructure of the department, which Award win Shepway contains pockets of acute joined customer services with revenues and disadvantage, where skills and incomes benefits, to form ‘Customer Contact’. are disproportionally low, dependency is Customer Contact has been so successful high, the living environment poor, and life that it now incorporates Lifeline, CCTV, expectancy well below average. corporate complaints, print room and The area is a popular location for civic wardens, and is the first point of retirement, with 20% of the population call for environmental services, electoral over 65. Black and ethnic registration and human resources. minorities make up 2.7% Customer Contact focuses on two of the population with significant numbers strategic objectives: of Nepalese, Slovakian and Czech nationals. • performing effectively Unemployment rates for the district are • serving customers and the community. in line with regional and national figures. However, there are areas within the district The value of staff is recognised in achieving where the numbers claiming job seekers these objectives through the core values allowance are amongst the highest in Kent. of the organisation, expanded into a set of behaviours and competencies that staff follow to make the biggest impact on customers and the organisation. www.irrv.net

Jane Worrell is Revenues Manager with INSIGHT Shepway District Council. Contact her on 20 [email protected] supported and mentored. supported be to team the into move will modules the passing staff new any and modules, relevant the passed have tax council processing system. the onto this translate to able be and legislation the understand must officer the module, each To pass tax. council of aspects various the on modules of up made officers, revenues all for developed and diversity. opportunities equal management, time safety, and health of information, freedom protection, this as well training as on on-line data All service. customer and rates business procedures, court legal magistrates’ names, debt, dealing with telephone collection, this year. qualifications vocational IRRV take to due officers four a further with qualification, formal external a have officers –six on-going is training team and revenues is wellThe the trained, Trained staff the revenues the district, of the unique attributes “With the service offered.” the service for ratescollection and customer maintain satisfaction team isfaced an annual with challenge achieve to high All the revenues staff working on working staff revenues the All A training on has delivered been External

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• • points: key two identified we in arrears, customers dealing with staff the and customers indebted our with From conversations has grown. the arrears and rates reduce collection improve in-year financially, so our challengestruggling to are more that of our customers recognised ‘credit the crunch’ Since management debt on focus Our satisfaction? customer and performance of levels high achieve to exceptional. been have quarters first the of results The to our customers. commitments measurable with organisation, Charter’ ‘Customer to customers. approach pragmatic and flexible the and passion’ ‘staff the praised assessor The organisation. an by service customer good of delivery the to commitment and dedication the awarda recognising government national Excellence Customer Service award the in rate pass 2011 a100% May In achieved we Excellence Service Customer collect whatiscollectable. give financialcontrolbacktothecustomer us allows which doing we are what So a introduced have we then Since

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21 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 Cover story

Anything over this amount is identified as of processes. Some of our processes update and have added the question to all the CRM ‘irrecoverable debt’ at that moment in time, the back office system in real time, so no processes, and staff are actively encouraged and is identified on the system. The purpose back office intervention is required. Using to promote this service – savings of over of this is to tell anyone looking at the account these processes allows us to obtain the £18,000 have been achieved to date. that the customer is engaging with us to deal right information first time, and for us to be with their debt, and we will not continually consistent with information given to customers “We are supported in push for full payment each time they make – we are more efficient, more effective and contact with us. We can, of course, change this more responsive. Information taken via CRM, everything we do by at any time if their circumstances change. if not processed during the call, is delivered our internal partners The value of doing this is that staff do not into the workflow system for distribution to the – mainly benefits, our constantly deal with the same debt over and over back office team. again, the pressure is taken off the customer to We also use the CRM system for outbound technical team and pay a debt they cannot realistically afford, and we calls where a message has been left for a customer services – and save money not taking these cases to court for customer to contact us. A message is left we do not underestimate committal action. on the CRM process to be picked up by the A successful interview ends with an customer service officer who accepts the the contribution they affordable arrangement for the customer, and return call, and who will then know exactly make to our success.” a commitment from the customer to pay and what is required. keep us informed of their circumstances. All We don’t do it all on our own arrangements are periodically reviewed. The Postage Project We are supported in everything we do by This project was tasked with reducing postage our internal partners – mainly benefits, our Use all the tools in the box! and printing costs. technical team and customer services – and We do use all of the enforcement methods Although the combined despatch of council we do not underestimate the contribution they available. Charging orders have been tax bills and benefit notification letters is make to our success. very successful in securing debt on empty not new, it was to us until this facility was In May 2011 we introduced a ‘middle properties, but also on occupied property developed in-house between our print room office’ which deals with customers face to face where securing the debt in this way has and revenues technical team. and processes their query before they leave. alleviated the pressure on a customer to make In addition to the ‘bill and ben’ facility, In September 2011 we introduced ‘Customer payment of a debt they cannot afford. In bills and letters that are required by staff are Contact Officers’ who deal with revenue 2012 we intend to force the sale of the empty ‘pulled’ from the system and delivered to the customers on the phone and process their properties, and will be working with our legal member of staff via email the next day. They query whilst they are on the phone if possible. team to do so. can then choose to print and send them or not. We have done some prosecutions for failing In December 2010 we began to actively ...and did it all work? to supply income information when requested, promote ‘e-billing’, and now have 2200 Entering the ‘Revenues Team of the Year’ and these courts are conducted by the court customers signed up to receive their bills award was a rewarding experience in itself, officers within the revenues team. A series of this way. We did a promotion in April 2011 as we had a success story to tell. Winning it letters are sent prior to this action, and we are was more then we hoped for, and morale and hoping to do more in 2012. ebills 2011/12 enthusiasm has never been higher. For annual billing this year the new ways of working have 2350 02/04/2012, 2200 2150 05/03/2012, 2043 Technology 1950 13/02/2012, 1951 been phenomenally successful – no queues 1750 23/01/2012, 1738 1550 05/12/2011, 1526 www.irrv.net We need technology to improve, but it needs on the phone and no peak of work received to number 1350 22/08/2011, 1199 24/10/2011, 1318 1150 20/06/2011, 1052 to work for us and to help us to achieve our 950 02/05/2011, 895 be processed. Our collection rates have also 750 objectives. We use a Customer Relationship 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 g 2 exceeded all expectation. We look forward to /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 /201 INSIGHT /05 /05 /06 /07 /07 /08 /09 /09 /10 /11 /11 /12 /01 /01 /02 /03 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 0 0 nual billin6 Management (CRM) system in Customer 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 2 n 2 2012/13 and beyond, knowing we have the a 22 Contact and are now on our third generation date support and ability to succeed. IRRV Online Training

We have just made some of the biggest changes to IRRV Online Training programmes since we launched them over eight years ago. Latest Updates include:

1. Fresher Navigation in the Learning Environment. The menu is more intuitive and modern looking.

2. A new, more intuitive look for Imago Manager (the manager side of the resource).

3. We are making the moved to HTML5. This is a change you won’t see but it is a major step to ensure continued compatibility with browsers, the possibility of more exciting design (without resorting to flash) and easier implementation of accessible features.

Programmes are available in Benefits, Business Rates and Council Tax at Beginner and Pro levels.

How to find out more: visit www.irrvlearning.org.uk to watch videos explaining how the programmes work.

In our latest video David Magor, Chief Executive of the IRRV, gives an overview of the programmes and why all authorities should subscribe. The video lasts less than two minutes.

www.irrvlearning.org.uk Welfare reform Contributing to the changes

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), is working closely with local authorities (LAs) LAs and suppliers all work together to create to deliver Universal Credit (UC), and one a system that works for everyone. way DWP is doing this is by bringing people Jonathan uses his operational knowledge from LAs into the UC programme to use their of working face to face with housing benefit knowledge and experience to inform the claimants to contribute to the design of the design and build of this new and innovative housing costs element of UC. “I feel I’ve really way of delivering a modern welfare service. been able to influence how UC is developing. This month’s spotlight Jonathan Dakin is an IRRV member who has Sometimes this has meant challenging what falls on DWP secondee been seconded from Burnley Borough Council has been proposed, but the Agile way of Jonathan Dakin, who to work on the design and build of UC. He working encourages this to happen. I hope works on the UC Product Owner Team in I’ve been able to contribute to the way the unveils a positive view the DWP, based in Warrington. policy intent for housing costs is translated on Universal Credit to help achieve something that is simple and implementation easy to use for our claimants, and in particular “Other colleagues that less data has to be gathered from them. working on UC from This should mean that people need to spend local authorities less time online to claim UC.” Jonathan goes back to Burnley Borough maintain similar contact Council regularly so he can keep in touch with with their home councils what’s going on locally and catch up with the too, as do colleagues latest issues. Other colleagues working on UC from LAs maintain similar contact with from HMRC.” their home councils too, as do colleagues from HMRC. Before Jonathan joined DWP he was a “The biggest changes for claimants under benefit fraud investigator, sometimes working UC,” Jonathan believes, “will be receiving their alongside DWP fraud investigators. He has housing cost payment direct as part of their previously worked in a number of other roles, UC, and taking responsibility for paying their including benefit assessment and customer rent direct to their landlord. Some people will support. Jonathan believes that his experience find this a painful process and they will need of managing continual process improvement support, but it’s the right move, and we will projects in Burnley helps him in his current be testing this with claimants and landlords to role, the advert for which he saw in Housing ensure that it works effectively.” Benefit Direct, the monthly bulletin from DWP. Jonathan concludes, “The other big change Jonathan joined DWP in March 2011, and for claimants will be the move to an online says, “My first impression was not only how claim process, and again some will need help big DWP was, but that I was working on a to do this – but I’m confident that the support huge change programme that would have a will be there.” substantial impact on claimants of housing UC is on track to go live initially for new claims

www.irrv.net costs under UC. It took me a little time to find from out of work claimants from October 2013, my feet, but once I did I was off and running.” before being rolled out to all claimant groups UC is being designed using the Agile over time. If you’d like to know more, go to the

INSIGHT method, which is a collaborative and iterative DWP website and take a look at ‘Universal 24 way of working where people from DWP, Her Credit – information for local authorities’. Back office processing Using

When it comes to data on your data your customers, Duncan Baxter is certain that the answer is right there in front of you

Revenues and benefit departments have income levels for households owing council for many years collected an incredible tax! The possibilities are endless. “I cannot see how amount of data on properties, make up At this year’s IRRV Benefits Conference, of households, activities of users and one of the delegates, on seeing our an authority can communications with customers. Of course latest venture into business intelligence, realistically look at the main use for the data is/was to process commented, “why has it taken local support creating a scheme a claim for benefit and/or to collect council for council tax to bring this technology out?” tax. Should the data just be entered in, My answer, as blunt as it sounds, was ‘it without first processed and archived for ever? In my view, did not!’ The truth is that it has taken local understanding what is no! How often is the data actually looked at to support for council tax to bring this technology going on within their establish trends, to understand who lives to the limelight. We have been using this in the district or to identify potential claims? technology since the mid 2000s to provide area, and who the Again, in my view, never! local authorities with a very detailed analysis intended scheme will By now, authorities will be well under way in of user activity, customer visits, workloads, etc. impact upon.” creating schemes for local support for council Where we go with this now would be giving tax – in doing so, looking into the data that our company trade secrets away, but things has been collected over the years is surely are certainly ‘evolving’! the key to establishing how such schemes will impact on claimants. I cannot see how Electo d Age ral an authority can realistically look at creating ol Registe a scheme without first understanding what eh r C us ou is going on within their area, and who the o ity n H il ci intended scheme will impact upon. In addition, ab l T is E a there is of course the issue of undertaking D Data qua x ng lity an ‘Equality Impact Assessment’ of any si Asse Im ou t ssm p scheme – how can this be achieved by simply H e e ac en nt t jumping in and creating a scheme from a B t en limited amount of data? id es epend If you add into the pot the data from other R D en departments, such as housing, electoral ts registration, etc, you will get a more detailed UC g view of the household make up and needs n i of the community. Yes, there is the old n Ethnicity n argument that they are all different, that they a l

don’t interact with each other, that they are P difficult to match up – the data that is, not the residents! But with the way technology has developed over recent years, these issues can be overcome, and the data can be matched to show all the attributes for the household. Once

this common link has been established, it is JUNE 2012 then possible to know details such as the age of the occupants that owe council tax, the level Duncan Baxter IRRV (Hons) is a of debt owed to the council for a property – Director of Destin Solutions. Contact him INSIGHT and controversial I know, the employer details/ on [email protected] 25 “But lurking over the horizon there may be even more Legal view alarming developments for students, with rumours about making them liable for council tax being floated before coalition ministers.” Students... a ticking time bomb?

educational establishments and delivered for at least 21 hours a week at a designated in many different ways. The multiplicity educational establishment for a period of at of study opportunities available and the least 24 weeks in the year. This definition was equally varied means of delivering education originally laid down by paragraph 4 of part 11 have the potential to generate many novel of Schedule 1 of The Council Tax (Discounts situations which even the most imaginative Disregards) Order 1992. Following amendment, parliamentary draftsmen could never envisage. the test concentrated upon qualifying periods As a result, unusual and unique claims for rather than physical attendance at a particular Student council discounts and exemptions may arise from establishment, thus allowing for distance tax issues, asserts individual circumstances, and it falls to the VTE learning and courses delivered over the Alan Murdie, should at first instance to determine the position. internet or abroad in other EU states. Just one such case was an appeal which Mr A argued that his daughter was studying not be taken lightly went before the VTE sitting at Bristol on a minimum of more than 21 hours a week, and December 1st 2011, concerning an Open that the certificate he sent in established that It might be thought that the question of University student who was undertaking two she was studying 32 hours a week over nine who may qualify as a student for council part-time and overlapping courses during part months of the year. He cited the Open University tax exemption and discount purposes had of the financial year in question. definition of a full-time student as being “a been finally settled from May 13th 2011 by The appeal was brought by the father of student studying 120 credits working the the Council Tax (Discount Disregards) the student (‘Mr A’ ) in respect of a decision minimum required 32 hours per week over nine (Amendment) Order 2011 SI 948, which by North Somerset Council refusing to award months in the year”. In further support of the altered the definition of a student laid down a student discount for his daughter (Miss appeal he marshalled a 1997 statement from by the Council Tax (Discounts Disregards) ‘B’), who undertook two part-time courses the then Department of the Environment which Order 1992. It may be recalled that various with the Open University. The first course, stated that there was “...no reason why a student problems built up around the definition entitled ‘Children’s Literature’, began on 2 on an OU course should not receive a discount“, concerning the issue of qualifying courses, October 2010 and finished on 30 June 2011. and he cited the High Court decision the meaning of attendance, and the position The second course, ‘Shakespeare’s Text and in R (Feller) v Cambridge City Council of students writing up PhD theses. Guidance Performance’, commenced upon 5 February [2011] EWHC 1252 (Admin) on the issue of issued by the Department for Communities 2011 and finished on 31 October 2011, each attendance, which had upheld the appeal of a and Local Government on April 26 2011 involving approximately 16 hours of study each PhD student, ruling he did not have to physically clarified that the amendment covered students week, delivered by distance learning. attend college whilst writing up his thesis. who are undertaking full-time courses of Mr A wanted his daughter to be recognised In response, the billing authority argued that education, whether by physically attending the by the authority as a student for council tax there were no provisions in the regulations to educational establishment or by other means purposes. With two adults living in a property allow multiple courses to be combined so as such as correspondence or online. together, a discount would be available if to be treated as the equivalent of a full-time However, some subsequent decisions by the it could be established that one of them course. A further object was that neither of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) show was a full-time student attending a college courses took place over a full-time year, and that reality remains the ultimate testing ground or university. Mr A duly obtained a student that the 20 weeks and five days where the for the adequacy of the prescribed system of certificate from the OU confirming the details of courses overlapped between 5 February 2011 exemptions and discounts, and whether they the courses, and sent it to the authority, hoping and 30 June 2011 did not amount to a full are sufficient to encompass the ever-growing for the discount. However, the local authority calendar year.

www.irrv.net complexity of the educational environment in declined to grant the discount, arguing that the The Panel noted that the Open University Britain today. Students may enrol upon any courses could not be combined in such a way. uses a credit-point system in which 120 points of a wide range of courses offered by various Until 13 May 2011 a student exemption was was the equivalent of a full-time academic

INSIGHT available in respect of courses which subsisted year. In order to qualify for a full-time course, 26 Alan Murdie LL.B is a Barrister for one calendar year and involved attendance students are required to study for at least 2011, establishments educational overseas 13 May after However, institutions. UK to only Order)Disregards 1992, made reference which Tax (Discounts Council the 2of Schedule of 1 Part under institution educational qualifying a as classed not was Heidelburg of University 13th May to 2011 Prior Heidelburg. of the University the at undertaking was student the a degree of part formed which Cambridge, in 2012 Laboratory Cavendish the at 2011 2February 31 and between January acourse undertaking was student the Here 2011 30 November Cambridge). in (sitting 0505M75331/071C) Ref (Appeal decision VTE another underpins definition, the day considering when aparticular on situation the considering of recognition This apply. assumptions and facts of set aparticular day, when each adwelling on payable as calculated being amount the with tax, adaily is tax council attendance.’ of period during aweek hours 21 least at of average an to year calendar or academic such each in amount together which experience work or tuition study, of periods undertake to require normally would it undertaking ‘a person student, a full-time as qualify to order in that provision the from taken be might case appellant’s the of strength The just. appears which house a half-way reaching is approach, result asense common the and OU, the by used course qualifying afull-time of definition the applying and study of of period the significance the elevating effectively it with approach, its in merit much is there Certainly, parliament. of intention the or used language the of effect overall the or word every of examination a detailed attempt not did VTE the Here regulations. of interpretation possible the on hangs much tax, council With role. specialist its befits as law, and facts of amixture determining criteria. the fulfil not did she aresult as and course, the of requirement the not was that 21 aweek, than more hours studying been not Bhad Miss that think to reason no had it Whilst tuition. or 21 study of than less hours involved course the that contention authority’s 2011, local the October accepted VTE the 2011 4February to 2011 1July and 31 to 2011 5February 2011. 30 period June to the for disregard student afull-time for appeal the Tribunal the a result, As allowed attendance. in 21 aweek least at hours of average an with year calendar or academic each in weeks 24 exceeded together taken when courses two the that accepted Panel The course). afull-time undertaking as treated Bwas Miss that clear it made which OU the by supplied certificate the in reflected also was (this year the of months nine over week per 32 hours Furthermore, it may be remembered that that remembered be may it Furthermore, with faced was VTE the case this In 2010 2October periods the for However, the day before on before day the remain within the boundaries laid down laid boundaries the within remain to had it view, apragmatic adopt to VT the for be might it desirable “However was, Appeal of Court the of comment one Indeed, exemption. and discount of purposes the for down laid has parliament that definitions the interpreting when view astrict take may courts higher the that suggests This position. the alter not did period condensed the within hours of number the double undertook student the that fact The year. year nor a calendar an academic neither lasted it since course year aone as qualify not did course month asix to down condensed course long ayear that ruled Appeal of Court 1919 EWHC [2008] vFarthing Council Borough Wirral of case the in seriously, 780 RVR [1967] Council City vBirmingham Trust Baptist Midlands West (see tribunals other upon binding not and are in courts, the of binding precedents equivalent the considered be not must they weight, great of are VTE the of decisions Although facts. of set aparticular to it apply to and regulation or astatute interpret and read to way one than more is there since possible, be might words the of constructions before. not though date, that from applied be could discount to university course in Germany, entitlement afull-time on enrolled was student the As institutions. as qualifying becould accepted However, it must be conceded that other other that conceded be must it However, ). Perhaps more more Perhaps ). , the the , them an interest group not to mess with! with! mess to not group interest an them make would it tuition, and study of period qualifying their completing handstheir after on time with and tactics, disruptive more even up dream would doubtless Others paying. avoid to accounts bank disorderly running and moving inevitably students with follow, and evasionwould opposition Widespread too far. prove one provocation certainly almost would tax council for liability imposing ahome, afford to able be ever will they if wondering generation student current the of many and bleak, looking graduation after jobs for prospects loans, student of form the in debt in heavily already students many With wake. its in follow undoubtedly would evasion open and protest Widespread tax. council the for grâce de coup the prove well might for remainingbe forgiven suspicious. might many fees student abolishing on retreat Democrats immediately, though – their after Liberal the by denied was claim The leaders. government local and ministers between ameeting of minutes leaked in suggested 2012) 6March Telegraph as– Daily least at say‘ Dems Lib tax, council paying face 2012 March of beginning ( the at contemplated being was students to liability extending seems it Ireland, Northern in away whittled been having rates from exemption student With ministers. coalition before floated being tax council for liable them making about rumours with students, for developments alarming more even be Frankly, if ever implemented, such a notion anotion such implemented, ever if Frankly, may there horizon the over lurking But case. Bristol the in VTE the by taken approach the with inconsistent might be considered by parliament.” ’Students should’Students Conceivably, this

27 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 Shared services £1.5bn to save £153m – who would you sack?

195,000 of our local government colleagues you pay is a cost for the overhead of stocking lost their jobs last year, so it really hurts when and changing other people’s tyres too. Shared the National Audit Office reports that service tarts like me call this the ‘cost of central government has spent over £1.5bn on complexity’. If all cars had the same size developing shared services, and as a result tyres, then that overhead would disappear, and only saved £153m. your cost could be considerably cheaper. Unlike central government, local government What the NAO has shone a spotlight on is is really good at shared services. It’s still early that a number of central processing units were Lessons must be learnt days, but on the LGA’s map of shared services set up by central government, but each partner from central shared there are 215 authorities collaborating on 127 demanded a different service. The partners service failures, says shared service activities, and just over 80 are in wanted different IT arrangements and different delivery, with banked savings of over £100m. processes for their departments, because they Dominic Wallace However, that is small change compared to what were unique... aren’t we all? could be happening if they really got down to So the centres rapidly became like a business and stopped dancing around the same Halfords, having to be ready and equipped to old handbags. When 95% of authorities work provide a range of different services to each of seriously in collaboration activities across their the partners. The cost of complexity spiralled, ten key services, there could be billions and hey presto, £1.5bn disappeared from your of pounds of banked savings. taxes! So what can we learn for the future? Well firstly, sack the people who allowed the “What the NAO has money to continue to be spent on dodgy projects long after they were not yielding early shone a spotlight on savings. Secondly, stop calling something that is that a number of is clearly not a shared service... a shared central processing units service. These central government projects were the provision of a range of differing were set up by central services from a central unit. government, but each Finally, train people to get shared services partner demanded a right. Put them through programmes like the national postgraduate certificate in shared different service.” services at Canterbury Christ Church University before they ever get near a shared service. After The main problem reported by the NAO in this all, when you go into Halfords there are walls full obscene, central government waste of public of certificates that show their mechanics have money, can best be explained by talking about gone through extensive training. So why is it not Halfords and replacing your tyres. Halfords is a the same for multi-million pound shared service lean, well run business, but an unavoidable activity in the public sector? expense is the cost of stocking and In Wales at the moment they are mulling over replenishing different sizes of tyres just in case the best way for 22 authorities to develop and you happen to drop in with your particular deliver a collaborative revenues and benefits

www.irrv.net Dominic Wallace is Director of Learning make and model of car. Each branch also has service. My recommendation to them is that and Development at Shared Service to retain staff with training and experience to they dissect the NAO report very carefully, and Architecture Ltd and lectures in shared fit a wide diversity of tyres. ensure they don’t build a number of central INSIGHT services. Contact him on dominic. So, even though you only require a units that go on to deliver 22 different, highly 28 [email protected] particular tyre for your car, built into the fee expensive, services to the partners. Alternative revenues Mapping out the future

As the first accounts of this year’s council be met, and any delay in starting the recovery tax are being prepared for court in the process will undoubtedly affect the ability coming weeks, the financial pressure on to recover your money before year end. At local authorities seems set to continue for Whyte & Co we have designed, built and the foreseeable future. Now is definitely the implemented new case management software time to look at how you will get more out of called ‘Mapmaker’ – our new software, the cases that end up with your enforcement which we believe is the first of its kind in the agency. I am constantly looking for enforcement sector, has been created by our improvements in our business processes and IT development department. Their brief was How to get the best procedures in an attempt to deliver a more to improve and streamline case management from your liability streamlined and efficient service. in an intuitive and ground breaking way. In orders in 2012/13 – One of the key areas of focus has been choosing the bespoke software route we were the speed in which we act on cases once able to ensure the software is tightly integrated Alan Wood’s sound uploaded to our bespoke IT system, ‘Enforcer’. into our core business system, and meets not advice is to invest Fortunately having an in-house IT team that only our own very specific needs, but also in effective case can make immediate improvements, we can the current and future requirements of remain at the forefront of innovative and our clients. management bespoke service delivery. All enforcement agencies are efficient at “Local authorities uploading case files on to their IT systems, but as a former enforcement agent that has have targets that worked at the door for a number of companies need to be met, and both large and small, ensuring the doorstep any delay in starting enforcement is instigated in an acceptable timeframe is key to maximum recovery. the recovery process My experience tells me that this common will undoubtedly affect problem has always been an issue – the the ability to recovery earlier an enforcement agent can attend the given address, the earlier they can recover your money before the outstanding debt. Early contact with your year end.” customer will also give the debtor more time to resolve the issue before the end of your Many companies simply cannot choose financial year. If an enforcement agency waits such a route, because they are tied into an months between visits, your customer will off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all software product, start to forget the outstanding debt, or take which is not driven by the enforcement sector, the opportunity to move address in an attempt as it’s driven instead by an independent to evade payment. software company. Allowing staff to visualise From a customer service point of view, all of our current, past and future cases in the the debt is fresh in their mind, and therefore context of a UK map, the software is highly is less likely to cause conflict if the process configurable, and we are able to filter results JUNE 2012

steps are kept tight. This results in a calmer based on debt type, process stage, client enforcement process and therefore few and status, ensuring cases are quickly and complaints, which will ultimately save valuable efficiently passed out to our national field Alan Wood is Director of Development man hours and resources. force and continually monitored in real time with Whyte and Co. Contact him on INSIGHT Local authorities have targets that need to back at headquarters. [email protected] or 07872 837853 29 Technology Pie in the sky?

Universal Credit (UC) is like watching a and development into the time remaining for disaster movie – you know that something the project. bad is going to happen, the question is Obviously the public and commercial when and then how bad it is it likely to be! services (PCS) union are not impressed by It appears to me that the issues with the the decision to offshore jobs. A spokesman technology surrounding UC seem to get for PCS said, “With unemployment high even more perverse. and still rising, ministers should be taking The whole ethos of UC is that it is supposed every opportunity to create skilled jobs, yet All may not be as well as to help people back to work and make work it appears plans are already well advanced it’s been portrayed on the pay. The good news is that the development to offshore the development of what is Universal Credit IT scene, of the software and systems for UC is creating supposedly their flagship benefits system”. 500 new jobs. The bad news is that many of suggests Simon Bailey the 500 new jobs may not be in this country. Back in July 2011 the government pledged “There is still a concern that it would not send any Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) jobs abroad. that many users of At the time the DWP minister, Chris Grayling, these services will not was quoted in a parliamentary written answer be digitally savvy, and to Labour MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central, Chi Onwurah as saying “We will not therefore the Budget offshore any DWP jobs.” In fact, the Minister has outlined a new went on to state that, “The department standard of usability is exploring how future offshoring can be minimised, and whether jobs currently that services must offshored could potentially be moved back adhere to.” to the UK in the future”. It is somewhat surprising then that in March of this year IBM and Accenture, the There are also concerns about the security major IT contractors to the government, have of data when system design and writing is announced that they propose to create 500 undertaken outside the UK, although the new jobs, many of which will be in India. The DWP has given assurances that no personal recruitment plans were apparently revealed on data is held or can be accessed outside the the DWP intranet. UK. Unfortunately, just a week before the Paul Macpherson, a member of the DWP statement, the Observer newspaper had department’s UC Design and Technology already disclosed that personal data of 43 Service wrote on the intranet that he believed million drivers in the UK would be contracted the offshore capability will provide world-class offshore to India. These details include data expertise, and that this was leveraging the best from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, resources IBM and Accenture had to offer. such as addresses, registration plate numbers Worryingly, he explained that the offshore and credit card details, and all these details

www.irrv.net development was required in the interests of could be accessed by staff outside the UK. both cost and time. It appears that the more It is not just system development that Simon Bailey IRRV (Hons) is a Director development work that can be done offshore is being offshored, it appears that delivery INSIGHT of ISCAS – contact him on simon@iscas. then the lower the cost, and also a 24 hour centres are being created in Mumbai and 30 co.uk (www.iscas.co.uk) day could be worked, to drive more design Bangalore, with three DWP officials already Dover, the director of major programmes at programmes major of director the Dover, Steve February, in summit ICT government’s the At route. favoured the be will online that clear becoming is it however, telephony, practice. in happen to going is what not is this statement Budget this despite that Ihope and a system, of usability the of test proper and afit seem doesn’t It same! the could do backgrounds or disadvantaged from groups economic social different in people the that enough evidence is system the use can aminister proving that sure I’m not system. a of usability the prove to like, such and benefits for apply ministers how see to good be will it as interesting, very be will this I think successfully. use service the can themselves minister behind. left be won’t systems the of users some that sure make to order in to, adhere of usability standard anew outlined has Budget the therefore and savvy, digitally be not will services these of users many that aconcern still is There 2015. by default by digital be will services government all that announced transactional default by system? IT new amajor is this if offshored be to have work much so does Why system. IT new amajor require not would UC that clear were ministers scratch, from built be to need would that parts and updated be to needed that elements be would there Although existence. in already were UC deliver to needed be would that blocks building technology 2011, November in newsroom the of many worries. my to adding 24/7 only is work and costs reduce to need the and expected, be can as well as going be not may things that evidence more provides only place taking is offshoring this that fact To the me visits. site undertaken having To me, digital by default includes some some includes default by To digital me, responsible the if live go only will Services digital be to going is UC know, all we As DWP the to according that forget not Let’s can demonstrate that they they that demonstrate can , and the recent Budget has Budget recent the , and that services must that services produced by the HMRC is just one part of a of part one just is HMRC the by produced being is that system information real-time The specification. and budget time, to projects ICT delivering of record track aterrible have governments all that out points She tight. 2013 by HMRC the with extremely is system IT a new of production the for timetable the that concerns has also She right. ICT the getting on is transition dependent completely successful a to risk greatest the that out pointed rightly First Politics the On systems. over UC the ICT voicing concerns (PAC) Committee Accounts Public the of Chair the Hodge, Margaret Even help. to going isn’t billion £2.7 by budgets DWP reducing time same the At wrong. seriously is costs down drive to just it using but well, services deliver to technology using of supporter astaunch been always have I arisk. of much too becoming is technology of transactions. channel for majority thevast internet web-enabled amassive be will there and thinner be will it but society, in vulnerable more the with deal to office aback be would there that state did Dover Steve means. back’ ‘nudged be would public the but software, recognition voice and staff with centre contact a be would there UC for DWP, that the implied “Often thecommittee I’m still worried that this over reliance on reliance over this that worried I’m still actually back’ ‘nudged what sure I’m not it could achieve.” optimistic about what a project that was too rush inimplementing finds that there was a to the web channel. channel. web the to website, she has quite quite has she website, , is is , hope that it is not just pie in the sky! the in pie just not is it that hope Ialso outcome. asuccessful upon depend livelihoods people’s many so as UC, for told have not and been ministers overpromised, been has everything that appears It sky. the 2013 in roll to in ready pie be just will is UC that idea the that stating actually are Whitehall within insiders that mentions also article IT. The dodgy on centred always century 21st the in foul-ups government major that highlighted article The disaster’. with a date for heading is Smith Duncan Iain ‘Why read, It year. this January in eye my caught newspaper UC. for used be could it before work more need will it and authorities, the with achieved has DWP the that integration system of example best the not probably is ATLAS that is here comment only My benefits. passported and CTB of administration the system (ATLAS) authorities local transfer automated the with compatible be will system the that stated DWP The authorities. local with work would system UC the how to as put was question the interestingly but known, already is information the of Much forward. things take to planned they how and to got they where stating UC, behind systems IT the to approach their to as stakeholders to information replaced. being one the as complex as be will system new and in emerge, end the the circumstances unforeseen as tweaked be to have may built being system the that issue an also is There UC. with happening is what exactly is this that is concern Her achieve. could it what about optimistic too was that project a implementing in arush was there that finds committee the Often failed. have that of projects big government evidence hears PAC the Too often project. ambitious hugely I do hope that all goes well with the systems systems the with well goes all that hope I do Telegraph the in headline anews Finally, 2011, of end the At provided DWP the “no” by civil servants. , and that this will support support will this that , and

31 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 “The DWP expects local authorities (LAs) to fund Doherty’s despatch activity from existing resources, but the Department can reimburse some additional costs.” Audit practice, parking and pilot proposals

Audit Commission savings greater than anticipated The Under Secretary of State announced by the Commission’s in-house team. in Parliament at the end of April that The Department for Communities and the successful outsourcing of the Audit Local Government’s initial consultation on the Commission’s in-house audit practice has changes said the NAO would produce a code already secured significant long-term of audit practice and supporting guidance reductions in audit fees for local public when the Commission goes. This will also bodies. Working estimates from the draft form part of the audit arrangements when This month, Pat impact assessment of local audit reforms councils are given the responsibility to appoint Doherty’s gaze is show that these savings, together with the their own auditors, most likely at the end of attracted by the end of inspection work and the disbanding the five year contracts. It is also set to take on of the Commission, will save around £650 some value for money studies. demise of the Audit million over the next five years, compared to Commission, car costs before reforms were announced. He parking charges... will publish the impact assessment, which will “The government include the detailed workings behind these and of course, figures, later this year. planned to publish Universal Credit The National Audit Office (NAO) has been legislation before the meeting with local government representatives end of May to disband as part of its preparations to take over work from the Commission. The government planned the Commission, to publish legislation before the end of May to fulfilling the promise disband the Commission, fulfilling the promise it made two years ago it made two years ago to scrap the body. Last month, five year contracts were agreed to to scrap the body.” outsource the local audits currently carried out

Car parking space tax – a ‘first timer’ Nottingham City Council is the first local of public transport. authority in the country to introduce the As you might expect, and going by the press ‘Workplace Parking Levy’ for businesses reports, the business community is against the that have 11 or more car parking spaces. tax, and believe that it may well have an impact Businesses will be charged £288 plus VAT per on inward investment as it increases the costs space per year, which is estimated to raise of prospective investors – time will tell.

www.irrv.net Pat Doherty FIRRV CPFA is an independent some £14m – a very useful sum of money. I have no doubt other city councils will consultant and a Past President of the The purpose of the tax, besides raising look with interest to see how this works, and IRRV. If you wish to comment on anything income, is to help tackle congestion and if it is worthwhile they too may consider it as INSIGHT in the article, please email him at the council intends to use the revenue an additional source of revenue in these 32 [email protected] raised on more trams and other forms tough times. delivery agency.”delivery key the not is authority local the where is table (opposite). the in out set is 2013. timetable pilot The October in out rolled is benefit new the before assessed be can areas successful of work the 18 the by 2012 May submitted so been have to had Wales and Scotland England, across flexible. are pilots the of length and time start the but date, that by evaluate and finish 2013. must they October in rollout, To inform UC of rollout wider before activity Pathfinder inform also will It basis. ongoing an on service face-to-face the of design into feed will pilots areas,” these of more or one in improvements make will they how show will proposals pilot “Strong • • • • • main areas: following the explore to be will focus the pilots twelve to up of up setting the on Association Government Local the year. next out rolled is benefit single the before claimants for support face to face trial to wishing councils of expects it what detailing April late in aprospectus published (DWP) 18th the May. by bids their complete Universal new Credit the of (UC) out roll the pilot to wishing authorities local those that announced has government The Universal Credit – pilots “keen to see diverse models emerging emerging models diverse see to “keen A panel of LGA representatives will consider consider will representatives LGA of A panel department the pilots, council-led as well As pilots twelve to up of one be to Applications the from learned lessons and Outcomes reducing fraudanderror. reducing homelessness;and delivering efficiencies on work financial independenceviaagreaterfocus claimants tousetheonlineservice reducing theneedformediatedsupport with working is programme UC DWP’s The Pensions and Work for Department The the prospectus said. prospectus the

, in which which , in had to to had

decision has yet been made about their their about made been yet has decision no that appears it pilots, these undertake will LAs that 2013, fact the of October spite in and in 2013 go-live September to inform –and 2013 –April Pathfinders the into feed to in arrears. bepaid and will in applications be supplied must costs of Abreakdown communications. changes, estates evaluation, staff, as such pilots”, the running in incurs authority an that costs additional reimburse “will DWP However, assessment. aformal on based funding for not qualify will , and Burden” therefore a New as classed be not will and are “voluntary, pilots the clear it makes prospectus DWP –the costs additional some reimburse can Department the but resources, existing from activity fund approved. is go-ahead final before plan, and mobilise to sites selected with work then will DWP The characteristics. and types authority of arange for aiming requirements, with fit’ ‘best on based programme UC the to England likely in pilot sites and recommend proposals Learning/lessons from the pilots will need need will pilots the from Learning/lessons to (LAs) authorities local expects DWP The 18 May August 2013 2013 2012 2012 2012 2012 July/ June Sept July Oct • UCrolloutbegins • Pilotstocomplete work • DWP todecideonup12 Pilots tofinaliseproposals forrecommendedLAs • Support • LGA makesrecommendations • LGA reviewsapplications • Pilotapplicationssubmitted toLGA Pilot Timetable Pilot

will pay to provide this support. this provide to pay will who of question the is there though, Clearly, introduced. are changes the when system online DWP the access cannot who claimants to support and face-to-face providing and on work housingand advice providing and landlords, claimants between disputes in arbitrating budgeting, with claimants help may staff benefits how at looking are changes]”. the with deal [to needed be will capacity some that fact the to regard have please capacity, that down manage 2013. from you as services However, benefits back scale to plans making already are you claimants. to payments direct monthly and cap, benefit household the UC, of including of introduction the changes, details out setting authorities local to written now have officials Government UC! to relation in along goes it as up it making is government completed. are pilots the once involvement There is no doubt that some councils councils some that doubt no is There of many that know “We states, letter The the that impression the You get do

33 INSIGHT JUNE 2012 “I suspect many authorities will at least initially find their Viewpoint audit being carried out by the same personnel, although now ‘under new management’.” All change...

This is a very strange feeling. We all know basis of inspection reports, value for money that we are on the threshold of the greatest judgement, and a view of internal audit reports. upheaval and change probably ever in terms The new system will not allow such easy of local government finances, and yet there identification of poorly performing authorities. seems to be little helpful actually happening. Previously the regional government office would In non-smoke filled rooms up and down the take the lead on receipt of auditor concerns, to country people are planning, but the strange set up an improvement board to work with the thing is they don’t exactly know what it is they authority on its improvement journey. No rest for the wicked are planning for. The LGA set up a very good ‘peer review’ and those in local We do of course know some things like system last year, which comes in not as government, discovers housing benefit will leave local authorities inspectors but as critical friends, to assess an over the next few years, and we know that authority and offer suggestions about further Richard Harbord business rates is about to become important improvement and best practice. My authority once more to individual local authorities. has just had one of these and it has worked very When business rates became ‘centralised’, well, and we have around ten recommendations many local authorities lost interest in the finer to take forward. The system is however a points of the tax – the reliefs, the valuation voluntary one, and it seems doubtful to me angles, etc. They are about to become very that all poorly performing authorities will want important again, as every extra growth in to offer themselves up in this way. The LGA business rates will stand to benefit the authority. scheme does allow for follow-up and support We need quickly in most authorities, to rebuild if necessary. If used too much, however, it the expertise that has been lost to ensure we will require considerable resources to keep can do the best for our authorities in the future. going, and could prove difficult to manage. It In the week of writing this article, we have is, however, the only show in town at present, seen the formal notification to local authorities and there are no signs of a more regular and of their new auditors who take over in detailed look at authorities’ performance, September 2012. Although at first sight it seems much of which will rely on the external auditor’s odd to start mid-year, it is of course the finish value for money judgement and authority and start of the audit year – current auditors self-realisation and help thereafter. having a caretaker role for the 2011-12 accounts, It is the season for elections! Fairly low and the new auditors coming in for the 2012-13 key generally this year, but there is the major audit. It is an interesting arrangement, with audit battle for Mayor of London. I am happy to firms carrying out the audit but the contracts work on that, and will be the central point of being with the Audit Commission. It will be reference at one of the count centres. I love interesting to see how seamlessly the handover the buzz which comes from election work, is. I suspect many authorities will at least although in the case of the London Mayoral initially find their audit being carried out by the election, I miss seeing the piles of counted same personnel, although now ‘under new ballot papers mounting up for each candidate. management’. Otherwise, all the expertise The count for this election is complicated, with there is in the system will be lost, and that a second preference vote, and it is automated,

www.irrv.net would be a great shame. with the swish of the scanning machines and Richard Harbord MPhil CPFA FCCA IRRV There is still an issue around the identification the computer totals of votes counted being the (Hons) FIDP FBIM FRSA is a member of and help for struggling and poor performing major signs of activity. The great thing about INSIGHT the IRRV and CIPFA Councils and Junior authorities. Previously this was to a large working in local government is that there is 34 Vice President of the IRRV extent dealt with by the external auditor on the always some new excitement on the horizon! Full conference Passes available from only £445.50

IRRV Annual Conference and Exhibition

Telford International Centre, 03 – 05 October 2012

The Institute is pleased to announce that this year’s Annual Conference and Exhibition is to be held at the Telford International Centre from the 3rd to 5th October 2012.

Conference will open on the Wednesday morning and finish Friday lunchtime. The exhibition will be open on Wednesday and Thursday with sessions on Friday run from the Holiday Inn that is adjacent to the venue. Our Performance Awards Gala Dinner, that attracts in excess of 700 guests, will be held at the Centre on the Thursday evening. The full conference fee includes a ticket for this event.

In terms of the programme, Wednesday will consist of plenary sessions focussing on Local Government Finance, Welfare Reform and Local Taxation with a number of key note addresses. On Thursday, three separate streams on local taxation & revenues, benefits (including fraud) and valuation will be run. Friday morning will involve delegates receiving an overview on everything currently happening within the profession whilst also looking ahead to what the next 12 months may bring.

It is an extremely challenging time for everyone working within the profession. FERENC Annual Conference will be an opportunity for practitioners and exhibitors to ON ES C 20 V 1 gather together and discuss the major issues. A variety of packages are R 2 R available to delegates; the aim being to maximise attendance at what is the I major event in the Institute’s calendar. BK

I R NOW R 2 V 1 0 C 2 Booking: ON S FERENCE Book online at www.irrv.org.uk. Enquiries can be made by email to [email protected] or by telephone 020 7691 8987.

Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities:

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