A SANDBANK resident has spent more than a year challenging what he says is an incorrect levy demand from Dunoon’s Business Improvement District (BID).
Alan Williamson claims he was wrongly billed in 2024 for an unpaid BID levy after an annexe at his property was reclassified from a domestic dwelling to a non-domestic short-term let within the PA23 BID area.
Mr Williamson, who turns 70 next month, says he has paid the BID levy for the past two years on the property, and was issued with a backdated demand covering an earlier period.
He said: I had paid council tax on the property during a qualifying period before it switched to a non-domestic property, when I was served with a backdated demand notice for a BID levy payment, which is now more than £200.
Believing the demand to be incorrect, Mr Williamson has refused to pay the outstanding amount. Since then, he says the case has escalated, resulting in a summary warrant, enforcement order and visits from sheriff officers.
He maintains he does not owe the money and argues there is currently no formal appeal process for BID levy disputes.
Mr Williamson also claims he has been repeatedly directed between the local BID organisation and Argyll and Bute Council while seeking answers.
He said: It feels like nobody is willing to take responsibility. There’s a clear case of the buck being passed between the BID and the council.
Last year, he took his case to SPICe (Scottish Parliament Information Centre), an impartial research and information unit of the Scottish Parliament that provides analysis on legislation, policy, and financial scrutiny.
Their findings confirmed that the local BID group’s demand notice sent to Mr Williamson excluded vital information, which was also confirmed by Scotland’s Improvement Districts, the lead organisation for improvement district work.
A spokesperson for SPICe explained: The demand notice should include notice of the date by which appeals may be lodged and state the name or designation and the address of the officer with whom appeals may be lodged, and if the date for the hearing of appeals is not notified in the demand notice, notice in writing thereof shall be given on behalf of the authority to the persons appealing. This is indeed set out in legislation, so I’m not sure why the council believes it doesn’t need to include this information in its notices.
I have asked Scotland’s Improvement Districts to confirm that I have the correct interpretation and they agree that The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 (Business Improvement Districts Levy) Order 2007 – Article 7 Administration of BID levy etc. – (Page 3) – and the Schedule – Page 8, sets out this requirement.
At the time, this newspaper asked Argyll and Bute Council why this information was missing from Mr Williamson’s demand notice.
A spokesperson for the local authority replied: We understand the importance of ensuring all BID demand notices contain the necessary information. Having reviewed the relevant legislation, however, we can confirm there is no legal requirement for the appeals process to be included in BID demand notices.
We recognise that Scottish Government guidance suggests this as good practice; however, so with this in mind, we will be discussing the matter with the BID company to ensure clarity and transparency for levy payers. Should we determine that including this information in the demand notices would improve communication, and it is feasible to do so, taking into account factors such as space limitations on the notice and the ability to update billing templates, we will take steps to update them accordingly.
Earlier this month, following a visit to Mr Williamson’s house by sheriff officers, he contacted Fergus Walker, revenue and benefits manager at Argyll and Bute Council, demanding to know why there is no formal appeal process for people facing local BID demand notices.
Upon receipt of Mr Williamson’s email, Mr Walker confirmed that a hold has now been placed on the recovery of the money and no further action will be taken until the matter is concluded.
Alan said: I didn’t work all my days to end up robbed like this. This has been over 18 months of my life fighting this. It’s concerning the ease of how this process can issue a summary warrant. Legislation clearly states there should be a formal appeals process, and for some reason Argyll and Bute Council seem to be denying that there is one.
He added: What’s of real concern is that this local BID demand process has been in place for the last 13 years. How valid have similar demand notices been in this period of time? I think this whole process needs investigating, as people may have been denied a basic right to appeal, which is only fair when you are facing a bill of hundreds, if not more.
