EXPOSED: North Somerset Independent Councillor Caroline Goddard Did Not Pay Council Tax Over Two Years

Councillor Caroline Goddard
(Portishead 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 second of them that we are providing details of is Councillor Caroline Goddard. She was elected as a Portishead Independents councillor, but is now "non-aligned" or put another way, an Independent. But she is not in the ruling Independent group.

Councillor Caroline Goddard
(Portishead East)

Councillor Goddard was NOT named in the initial response to our Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to North Somerset Council. She was not mentioned.

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

"Councillor Caroline Goddard

2020/2021

15 January 2021	Reminder Issued	£660.79
12 February 2021	Summons Issued	£755.79 (£660.79 Council Tax + £95 Summons Costs)
05 March 2021	Liability Order Granted
Notes: The amount of £660.79 was paid in full on 29 March 2021 and the remaining £95 was paid in full by 25 October 2021.

2021/2022

19 May 2021	Reminder Issued	£77.26
18 June 2021	Summons Issued	£764.26 (£669.26 + £95 Summons Costs)
09 July 2021	Liability Order Granted
Notes: The amount was paid in full 14 September 2021.

An adjustment to the account generated an additional charge for this period and the following notices were issued:

12 November 2021	Reminder Issued	£518.63
05 January 2022	Summons Issued	£1,393.63 (£1,298.63 + £95 Summons Costs)
21 January 2022	Liability Order Granted
Notes: The amount was paid in full 14 March 2022

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

 

So, not only did Cllr Goddard not pay her council tax. She received more than one summons to court. She also received more than one liability order.

We have repeatedly offered Cllr Goddard a right of reply. But we have received no response to our attempts to contact her, whether by email or phone.

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.

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

Do you agree that Cllr Goddard 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.