COUNCIL TAX PAYERS' ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE 2005/06 BUDGET

1. The budget leaflet sent with each bill to the 525,000 council tax payers in Hampshire tells people how to contact the County Council if they require further information about the budget. In addition, the public also contact the County Council's information centres with queries and complaints about the council tax. In total there were 41 enquiries as analysed in the table below:

2005/06

Dealt with by:

County Treasurers' Department 21

Information Centres 20

Method of contact:

Letters 3

Phone 23

Email 13

Visit to information centre 2

2. It is estimated nationally that 4 out of 10 pensioners are not claiming council tax benefit to which they are entitled. In an effort to address this, the County Council leaflet encouraged those on low incomes to contact the County Council to find out whether they were entitled to financial help. This resulted in a response from 140 tax payers although it is not clear how many of these subsequently applied for council tax benefit through their district council.

3. Enquiries dealt with by the County Treasurer's Department represented the core of those that wished to raise points of substance, and the figure of 21 was significantly lower than the previous year's total of 64 (when the County Council's council tax rise was 4.7%) though both figures remain a small proportion of the total number of council tax payers. The 41 enquiries dealt with by the County Council were mainly seeking further clarification or had negative comments to make. The biggest category, but still only 12, was complaints regarding the size of the council tax increase.