Residents win council tax appeal

Blind and partially sighted residents at a care home run by the
Royal National Institute of the Blind are celebrating the end of a
two-year battle over council tax.

The 37 residents at Kathleen Chambers House in Burnham on Sea,
Somerset, each received a council tax bill of £1,266 after a
reassessment of the accommodation and facilities at the home (news,
page 8, 8 November 2001).

An appeal by residents and the RNIB led to the bills being waived
because the units were very small and there were communal areas
within the home.

The RNIB said the accommodation had been upgraded in 1996 so that
it complied with the recommendations of the 1991 Social Services
Inspectorate report.