The Challenge
To develop a single point Internet access to
Valuation Roll and Council Tax information on Scotland’s 2.7m
properties, sourced from the locally managed and maintained
databases held by each of the Assessors, via a user-friendly web
interface, for use by diverse audiences.
The Solution
We developed a robust and secure portal
allowing council tax banding and non-domestic rates data from each
of the 14 regional assessors to be easily integrated into a single
database. Further online services (such as online forms for
valuation appeals and online proposals for alterations to Council
Tax banding) have been introduced to enhance the service delivery
by the Assessors. A user-friendly web interface provides easy
access to the data by the target audiences, which include
Assessors’ staff (accessing and updating local information),
government agencies (accessing ‘All Scotland’ data), the general
public (accessing information and supporting material) and business
users such as estate agents and property developers.
The Results
The results have been incredible, in terms of
continuing improvement in online service delivery, as well as cost
and time savings.
The amount of Assessor business being
conducted online has gone from zero in 2004 prior to the portal
launch, to 6.9% of all council tax proposals and 24.3% of all
valuation roll appeals being received using the Portal in 2006
(when the online services were launched) rising to 61.1% and 31.1%
respectively in the first quarter of 2007.
The portal now averages 750,000 page requests
per month and is an important source of information for a wide
variety of users. It won the Institute of Revenues, Rating, and
Valuation 2007 awards for both ‘Excellence in IT’ and ‘Best in
Scotland’ – as an ICT solution which has generated significant
organisational or service improvement.
Significant cash (estimated to exceed
£500,000) and time savings (minimum of 14 FTEs savings per annum)
have been achieved by portal users who include the Assessors, the
Scottish Government, local authority and business users.
About the Scottish Assessors
Each of the 32 local Councils within Scotland
is a valuation authority and responsible for appointing an Assessor
who must in turn compile and maintain a Valuation Roll and a
Council Tax Valuation List. The Assessors are responsible for the
valuation of all heritable properties for local taxation purposes
within their respective valuation areas. There are fourteen
Assessors in Scotland, four are appointed directly by a single
Council and the remaining ten are appointed by Valuation Joint
Boards comprising elected members appointed by two or more
Councils.
http://www.saa.gov.uk/ (opens new
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