EXPOSED: North Somerset Independent Councillor David Shopland Who Persistently Did Not Pay His Council Tax Over Two Years

Councillor David Shopland
(Clevedon East)

Somerset Independents puts residents first. We stand up for residents and we act on the issues that matter to them.

Residents support our investigations into councillors who persistently failed to pay their own council tax. To say again, we do not pursue private individuals. 

But councillors are not just private individuals. They are public representatives who receive public money in the form of an allowance. And they spend public money when they vote at council meetings or take other actions as councillors.

We said that we would expose councillors that we found to have failed to pay, during our investigations.

We named three councillors. The third of them that we are providing details of is Councillor David Shopland. He is an Independent and is part of the ruling Independent group.

Councillor David Shopland
(Clevedon East)

Councillor Shopland was named in the initial response to our Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to North Somerset Council. It said:

"Councillor David Shopland - Reminder issued 16.04.21, 2 nd Reminder Issued 19.05.21, Final Notice Issued 14.01.21. Councillor Shopland has one instalment of £229.00 left to pay. The amount of arrears varied each month as payments were being made but payments were not as billed. We do not hold a reason for non-payment."

But the Council did not answer our FoI properly. Information was missing. The dates did not make sense. So we asked them to review it. After a long delay, they came back with the following information, which is significantly different. And the Council Leader apologised to us for how the Council had handled our requests.

"Councillor David Shopland

2020/2021

21 July 2020	Reminder Issued	£654.00
21 August 2020	2nd Reminder Issued	£654.00
Notes: The account was then maintained as required for the remainder of the financial year.

2021/2022

16 April 2021	Reminder Issued	£229.39
19 May 2021	2nd Reminder Issued	£229.00
14 January 2022	Final Notice Issued	£687.00
25 February 2022	Summons Issued	£324.00 (£229.00 Council Tax + £95 Summons Costs)
18 March 2022	Liability Order Granted
Notes: The amount of £229.00 was paid in full on 7 March 2022, which left a remaining balance of £95.00 This remained unpaid and the debt is now with the Enforcement Agency for collection.

We can confirm Councillor David Shopland did not vote in the budget meeting of February 2022."

 

So, not only did Cllr Shopland not pay his council tax in one year. He did it over two years! AND he received a court summons and a liability order was granted too.

We have offered Cllr Shopland a right of reply, which was difficult because the only contact details were by post - no email and no phone are offered on the Council website. But we have received no response to our attempts to contact him. We allowed adequate time. 

 

And Cllr Shopland not only attended the Council budget meeting when in arrears. He did not declare his arrears either. Cllr Shopland even participated in the meeting and proposed a motion! It is all there in the official Minutes and in the recording of the meeting. And we double-checked the record with officers.

 

Former Chairman of the Council David Shopland has been in trouble before - in 2013, as reported by the North Somerset Times, he and his wife were both accused of not updating their registers of interests as councillors in a timely fashion - a criminal offence. At the time, David Shopland said: "No one has approached me officially on this so I do not have any comment to make." The outcome of the Police investigation is not reported by the North Somerset Times.

It is a question of honesty. It is a question of integrity. It is a question of the Nolan Principles of Public Life, which all councillors are bound by.

Councillor David Shopland, when Chairman of the Council, said:

"Thank you for the honour you have given me. I must warn you I could make mistakes, but I will always try to be impartial and fair."

We suggest local residents submit a formal complaint into Councillor Shopland.

Do you agree that Cllr Shopland should resign?

We have asked all North Somerset Independent councillors for comment.

Who Are Somerset Independents? 

We are a campaigning group of volunteers, dedicated to better representation in Somerset. Join Somerset's own campaign group and political party to celebrate Somerset's past, protect Somerset's present and prepare Somerset for the future.

We can be contacted at the link here and via Twitter @SomerInds, via Facebook at the Somerset Independents page and via email at somerinds [at] gmail.com.