I was very angry to read that the council is snooping on its residents, “Clamp Down On Council Tax Fraud”, Thursday, April 8 edition.
When the council refers to working with a third party it is referring to credit reference agencies, like Eqafax etc, so why did Peter Coupland not just say that?
The problem is this, collating data from credit reference agencies to establish how many residents reside at a particular property is not accurate for many reasons and here is a fine example of one of them.
My son no longer lives with me so I am entitled to claim the 25 per cent discount.
My son wanted broadband, I did not, so the bill is in his name which he pays. He also still has his bank account at my address and will keep it that way until he firmly establishes where he wants to live.
When SHDC snoop on my address using whatever credit reference agencies they choose to use that week, two people would show as residing at my address when the accurate figure is one.
Now you can see just how flawed the use of these agencies is. Also these agencies are just that, credit reference agencies and nothing else.
They were not designed to be used in any other way, however their true purpose is being exploited by our government to spy and snoop on people and then go on to provide them with inaccurate information.
I asked the question to staff I work alongside: “Does anyone who does not reside at your address still use your address”? A large number had their children still using their address and even friends.
So Peter Coupland DO NOT rely on credit reference agencies to determine who does or does not reside at a said property and STOP using this type of agency to spy on us.
Our MP John Hayes should be ashamed that he stands by and allows this behaviour.
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