CFM0095 - Review of Council Tax Discounts

Fife Council are looking to appoint an experienced and qualified Contractor capable of meeting the needs of the Council in relation to providing a fully managed supply service to review entitlement to Council Tax Single Person Discounts (SPD).

Fife Council are looking to appoint an experienced and qualified Contractor capable of meeting the needs of the Council in relation to providing a fully managed supply service to review entitlement to Council Tax Single Person Discounts (SPD).

The Contractor will be responsible for carrying out a monthly rolling review of approximately 48,000 Fife residents who are currently claiming SPD from Council Tax to determine if the council taxpayer is still eligible for this discount. Using data matching the Contractor will carry out a risk assessment and using this analysis be responsible for contacting the residents whose circumstances they suspect may have changed and may be no longer entitled to the discount . An e-form will be provided to allow the council taxpayer to make a fresh declaration of single person discount entitlement or report a change. Where the discount claimant’s circumstances have changed the Contractor will gather the information needed to allow them to process the change in the Fife Council’s Council Tax system and issue a new Council Tax bill in accordance with the Council’s processes and procedures. This will be carried out in mutually agreed timescales to maximise and protect the revenue due to the Council.

When responses from SPD reviews are received the Contractor will analyse these to detect potentially fraudulent responses and engage with those claimants directly on behalf of the Council. A full audit trail of communications will be provided to the Council for any potential appeals.

The Contractor will provide a secure data transfer portal for upload of Council files to the Contractor and will be expected to provide monthly reports back to the Council to show the outcome of the process, the number of residents contacted, the number of discounts claimants being challenged and the amount of revenue generated from cancelled discounts.

All communications with the claimants will be managed by the Contractor including providing a manned telephone helpline.

The Council may also opt to extend these works to include a broader range of Council tax discounts and exemptions.