Propsed fees for failure to notify a change of circumstances to a Local Authorities (LA) in regards to Council tax and possibly Housing benefit too! My local LA (Southend on sea Borough Council) SBC)) has recently had a full Council meeting and are propsing charging people for failing to notify a change of circumstances. This could be between £70-£280! (please see my attacments (1) (2). 2 for the quick version and 1 for the full document. Or see section 6 page 67 all... This was previously just £50 now the new rates could cause more financial issues for many people. 2 RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 That the Executive agree that consultation takes place on the implementation of a fixed penalty of £70 to Council tax charge payers, permitted under the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, who intentionally or knowingly fail to notify the Council of any change affecting Council Tax Liability or Local Council Tax Benefit Scheme (LCTBS) without reasonable excuse. 3 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 The Council has powers under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (Schedule 3) to impose civil penalties to those charge payers who wilfully neglect to inform the Council of changes which affect their Council Tax liability. There are at least 6 areas that could affect the claimant/bill payer this could be on top of what DWP already charge. It could pay to ask your LA if they also intend on doing the same as mine. Given that most LAs now have to find new inovative ways to get more money in their coffers then this one surely is a way to make money from failure to notiy a change of circumstances in a reasonable time frame (normally 28 days) sometimes less.... Info here and other places >> https://www.gov.uk/civil-penalty-changes-affect-benefits Your thoughts.... Benefit failure fees.pdf Public reports pack 14th-Feb-2017 14.00 Cabinet[556].pdf