Does The Supply Of Goods And Services Act Apply To Local Authorities For Council Tax?

[mebigbadjoe]

Does the supply of goods and services act apply to local authorities for council tax? I ask because by paying the council you are effectively entering into a contract with the local authority for them to provide services to you for a fee. If by not providing a satisfactory service am i right in thinking they are in breach of the act and i can then therefore withold part or all of the payment until that service is provided for me

[ubasses]

Council tax is not a charge that is made specifically for services that you use or receive. The charge that you pay is a contribution to the overall cost of providing all of the services in your area. The law does not provide councils with powers to grant discounts to people who do not use or receive some of these services.

[Buenchico]

The Supply Of Goods And Services Act doesn't apply to anything; it was repealed on 1 October 2015.

The current legislation is the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The only 'services' covered are those defined by the term "a contract for a trader to supply a service to a consumer". [Section 48 of the Act].

As a local authority is not acting as a 'trader' in respect of the services it does or does not supply, it's clear that it is exempt from the provisions of the Act.

[mebigbadjoe]

Buenchico
Is the local authority not classed as a trader providing services, there is a contract of sorts that the tax payer and local authority enter into when the fee is paid, we as tax payers agree to pay the authority and the local authority agree to provide a set of given services.

I might be seeing this from a different angle, but the act should cover all companies and traders who provide services for a fee. No doubt since the act was made in parliament the government and local authorities have made sure the wording does not include themselves, therefore they can impose a fee (tax) and get away with not providing the services they are charging for.

[bednobs]

there is not a set sheet of services local councils provide though

[Buenchico]

Section 2(2) of the Act states:
“Trader” means a person acting for purposes relating to that person’s trade, business, craft or profession, whether acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf.

If you wish to challenge cuts to council services on the basis of their duty to do so, you'll first need to establish that such a duty actually exists. For example, local authorities aren't legally obliged to provide public toilets, so there can be no legal challenge to a decision to close them. However local authorities are obliged to provide public library services. [Libraries and Museums Act 964. See here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-libraries-as-a-statutory-service/libraries-as-a-statutory-service ].

Some other statutory duties of local authorities are given here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45129167

[Peter Pedant]

// I ask because by paying the council you are effectively entering into a contract with the local authority for them to provide services to you for a fee.//
no you arent
your analysis is flawed

it is nt a trader - it isnt a congtract and they have no duty to do diddly squat
other than those points your analysis is OK

Oestracher if anyone remembers him - marxist canon of some anglican church
tried this years and years ago
the judge said ' I think you have raised points that ought to have been heard'
and not surprisingly he was fined and given a record

and the chubby canon beamed into the tv cameras and claimed a moral victory

no you have no discernible case in law but that doesnt mean you shold stop campaigning

[Peter Pedant]

oestracher used Cheney v Conn
https://webstroke.co.uk/law/cases/cheney-v-conn-1968

but not in 1968 - mid eighties
you may say that the principles of C v C dont apply to you
however honestly your point is a non starter

[New Judge]

"I ask because by paying the council you are effectively entering into a contract with the local authority for them to provide services to you for a fee."

No you are not. You are bound by law to pay Council Tax as set (with the prospect of sanctions - including imprisonment - if you fail to do so) . A contract is a bilateral agreement freely entered into by both parties. There is no comparison between the two scenarios.