Council tax non-payers names are finally revealed (From This is The West Country)

Council tax non-payers names are finally revealed

9:11am Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Cornwall

Clockwise from top left: Chris Pascoe, Sasha Gillard-Loft, Alex Folkes and Jan Powell

The names of the four Cornwall councillors taken to court for failing to pay their council tax have finally been revealed.

Five months after the Packet first revealed the number of members missing payments, a succession of Freedom of Information requests and a trawl through magistrates courts records have brought the names into the public domain.

They are; *Councillor Chris Pascoe (Lib Dem, Threemilestone and Gloweth), taken to court in July 2011 for arrears of £1,805.31 *Councillor Sasha Gillard-Loft (Lib Dem, Launceston South), taken to court in March 2010 for arrears of £210 *Councillor Jan Powell (Lib Dem, Liskeard North), taken to court in August 2010 for arrears of £833.85.

*Councillor Alex Folkes (Lib Dem, Launceston Central), taken to court three times, the final time in July 2011 for arrears of £811.07.

Despite each being approached by the Packet in October and directly asked if they had ever faced legal action against them for council tax arrears, all four chose to offer no reply at the time.

Councillor Pascoe explained that his father's death in 2010 had led to his problems with the tax payments.

He said: "My father had owned the house, and had been responsible for the bills at the property.

"During the year afterwards, due to the emotional turmoil and there was so much legal stuff going on at the time, that I overlooked it and have since settled it in full."

Councillor Folkes' problems with his payments were first exposed two weeks ago, when he admitted having failed to pay his tax twice.

However, BBC Cornwall's Graham Smith, who has worked alongside the Packet on the investigation, unearthed a new liability order from last year, showing Mr Folkes, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, had failed to pay for three consecutive years.

He has claimed he forgot about the third incident, issuing a statement to Mr Smith saying: "I apologise for inadvertently misleading you and your listeners due to not having a clear recollection of the events of three years ago.

"I remain deeply sorry that I got myself into such a position but have been very grateful for the kind words of support given to me by colleagues from all parties and the people I represent."

Councillor Gillard-Loft said: "I got behind with one or two months because the person who owns the house, and who pays half the council tax, had an accident and was off-work.

"Because he's self-employed he didn't get paid and so we couldn't afford to pay it. I'm a full-time councillor and have no other income apart from my councillors' allowance. It was a genuine case of financial hardship."

Councillor Jan Powell was a member of the Conservative group at the time the liability order was issued.

Her husband, former mayor of Launceston Tony Powell, said: ""We had no knowledge of any Liability Order until December 27, 2011, when contacted by the Councils' solicitor.

"Through a combination of an inadvertantly cancelled Direct Debit, a botched standing order and my ill-health we missed payments in April and June but the arrears were cleared in May and July by double payments.

"By July 23 there were no arrears and a new arrangement in place.

"At that time we understood that no summons would be issued given our excellent payment record and the circumstances of the missed payments.

"At no time was there any intention to avoid payment or any any question of our ability to pay.

"We have details of our dealing with the Council and have made representations to them over what subsequently took place.

"We have discussed the issue with them and are awaiting a response"

Councillor Jeremy Rowe, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, said he was disappointed by the fact four of his members had been revealed as recipients of liability orders.

He said: "Obviously I'm not pleased about this news and I'm now asking all the members of my group, wherever possible, to pay their council tax by direct debit.

"There may be occasional cases of real hardship and in those circumstances I want people to tell me as soon as possible, and to talk to the council about it."

Speaking about his deputy's non-payments, Mr Rowe added; "Alex has said sorry about this - I accept that he did not intentionally mislead anyone - and as far as I'm concerned that's an end to the matter.

"I don't see this as a resignation issue. Alex is a great guy, a really hard-working councillor who does a great job of opposing the Tories in the council chamber - and that's why I think they're gunning for him on this issue."

The one councillor who voluntarily came forward and admitted he had received a liability order for non-payment of tax did not need to identify himself, court records have shown.

Councillor Andrew Wallis, who contacted the Packet in August to admit he had run into arrears in 2009, had the order issued when he was a member of Kerrier District Council, and not part of the yet-to-be-formed Cornwall Council.