In message <[log in to unmask]>, at
22:22:11 on Mon, 2 Aug 2004, Peter Lane <[log in to unmask]>
writes
>IR intervene ? - God forbid it - absolutely not - we should just all sit
>back like good ol' do-gooders and watch it happen and then moan and bleat
>when nothing ever happens. I agree totally with David here although I see
>Doreen's point. S29 could come in to play - there is nothing in the Act
>that says it is for Police use only - the IR are a prosecuting body and it
>would seem perfectly reasonable for them to ask legitimate questions based
>on their suspicions / facts and then pass on to the Police if necessary
>should they start to go beyond their remit, just as the Police quite rightly
>pass appropriate intelligence to the IR.
I think we are losing the plot here.
If someone is fiddling the *council*, then it's right that they are
found out, and prosecuted.
My view, however, is that it's not the IR's job to go round asking the
council if random of their council tax payers are getting the discount,
with a view to then reporting back to the Council "ah-ha, we happen to
know that chap is co-habiting, and therefore defrauding you".
In other words, their purpose in making the request to the OP should not
be that they have become a self appointed vigilante for council tax
single person discount. (Nor do they have such a power under s8)
The IR obviously have some suspicions about the resident (otherwise they
are on a fishing expedition), but surely the suspicion is that the
resident is fiddling their Child Benefits (which is mentioned in the Act
as the sole reason they have the power to ask the council for data). If
their suspicion was about a different fiddle (even for example that the
resident was fiddling to Council Tax) then the section 8 power doesn't
appear to allow the IR to make the enquiry.
Of course, they could, once their suspicions are confirmed by some other
means, "tip off" the council that they have a liar getting the single
person rebate, but would that be a particularly common thing to do?
Normally organisations in that situation tend to claim that "data
protection" (sic) prevents them from disclosing such a suspicion to a
third party.
--
Roland Perry
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