Highlights
- Cllr Ashok Patel accrued £4,703.66 in unpaid council tax between 2020 and 2023 during dispute with Valuation Office.
- Court liability order obtained by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, with full payment received in February 2024.
- Labour spokesperson says councillor settled sum immediately after being informed he must pay while awaiting resolution.
A Labour councillor in West London was ordered to pay more than £4,500 in outstanding council tax following a dispute over the classification of his basement.
Cllr Ashok Patel, who represents Sands End ward in Hammersmith and Fulham and currently chairs the authority's Pensions Board, was issued with a court summons in 2023/24 after accumulating the debt over three years.
The council obtained a liability order; a court order enabling local authorities to collect unpaid debts and received the full £4,703.66 owed in February 2024.
Information released to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) through a Freedom of Information request revealed Cllr Patel was the only member at Hammersmith and Fulham Council to receive a court summons in the previous three financial years.
The summons covered outstanding council tax for the years 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23.
Political response
A Hammersmith and Fulham Labour spokesperson explained that Cllr Patel did not pay council tax on his basement due to a dispute with the Valuation Office, which was treating it as a separate property.
He continued to pay council tax on the rest of the property throughout this period.
"As soon as he was made aware that he needed to pay tax while waiting for the resolution of this dispute, he settled his outstanding bill immediately and in full," the spokesperson said.
The LDRS understands the Labour Group was unaware of the outstanding tax when Cllr Patel was selected prior to the 2022 elections.
When the group learned of the issue, they explained he needed to pay before the dispute was resolved. The council had issued statutory reminders and a final notice before the court summons.
Cllr Patel, elected in May 2022, serves on the Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee and is appointed to the Lygon Almshouses charity. His Pensions Board chair position carries no additional pay.
Outside council duties, he is a partner at solicitors firm Rippon Patel and French LLP, with over 40 years of legal experience.
The LDRS contacted Cllr Patel for comment but received no response. Similar Freedom of Information requests filed with Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and the City of London Corporation found no councillors with court summonses recorded.
Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)
