Council tax and legal matters

Council tax is an annual fee your local council charges you for the services it provides.

Each property is assigned a council tax band and the amount of council tax charged depends on your band.Normally, you pay it in 10 monthly instalments, followed by two months of not making any payments.

Local services are funded by council tax. This includes:

• police and fire services
• leisure and recreation projects, such as maintaining parks and sports centres
• libraries and education services
• rubbish and waste collection and disposal
• transport and highway services, including street lighting and cleaning, and road maintenance
• environmental health and trading standards
• administration and record-keeping, such as marriages, deaths and birth, and local elections.

Applying for a council tax discount 

Before you apply for a council tax discount, you need to find out your local council and its website.

You then need to register with your local council by creating an account on their website. Once your account is set up, you need to generate a council tax exemption letter that states the dates of your course and entitles you for a discount for that period.

You can now produce your own letters using eVision. Before you do however, you need to check your addresses are up to date. To do this you will need to log in using your university username, this usually looks something like this: a123456b.

If your addresses are not current on eVision, please first update your term time and home address through your eVision portal. Log in, go to the ‘My Personal Details’ tab, followed by the ‘View or amend profile’ option.

You can then download and print your own letters using the following instructions:

• Log in to your eVision portal. Select the ‘My Student Self Service’ Tab along the top of the page.
• You then need to scroll to the ‘My Letters’ box on the right side of the home screen and select ‘Student Council Tax Letter’.
• You will need to follow the prompts and save the pdf. version.

If you are having difficulties generating your own letters you can email studentconnect@staffs.ac.uk with your student reference number and request a council tax exemption letter.

You can now upload the letter on your local council’s council tax portal and apply for a discount.

What to do if you forgot to apply for discount?

So, you forgot to apply for a discount and are now receiving mail from the council asking you to pay outstanding charges on council tax. Don’t panic, you can still apply for council tax reductions and upload your evidence. The council will then cancel the charges for the months covered by your council tax exemption letter.

Legal issues

It’s likely that the laws in the UK will have some differences to the laws in your country. Equally, if you travel to another country – they’ll have different laws again.

Not knowing that something is against the law is no excuse for breaking it. 

It’s very rare for international students to have serious problems with the law but, just in case, here are some things that you should know. 

• The drinking age for alcohol is 18 years. It is illegal to buy alcohol under the age of 18.Those aged 16 or 17 may consume beer, wine or cider with a meal if they are accompanied by an adult who purchased the drink in a licensed premises. It is illegal to give alcohol to anyone under the age of 5.
• It is illegal to smoke tobacco in any enclosed premises that is open to the public as well as any place of work with more thsan one worker.
• It is illegal to carry any sharpened blade in public. This includes any knife with a blade more than 3 inches.
• Hate crimes are taken vary seriously in the UK. A hate crime is any crime that demonstrates hostility or is motivated by hositlity toward someone based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.
• Sexual offences are also taken very seriously. These offenses include crimes like domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault and child abuse but also cover things like sexual harrassment, stalking and revenge porn. 

The police have the right to stop and search anyone they believe is behaving in a suspicious way. If you’re approached by the police, be polite and answer any questions truthfully. Don’t try to bribe them. A police officer who doesn’t wear a uniform (plainclothes) should always show you their ID – if not, then you can ask to see it.  

If you’re arrested or have witnessed a crime, you’ll be asked to make a statement to the police. If this happens, you’ll tell your story to a police officer, who may ask many questions in order to make the statement exact. Once this is all written down, you’ll be asked to sign it and say that it is accurate. You must never sign a document if you do not understand it.

If you are a victim of a crime or witness a crime, you should speak to the police as soon as possible. You can also seek support from the Univeristy of Staffordshire campus security team or our Police Liaison officer. If you are not sure if you should come forward, or feel you need support to do so, please contact the Student Advice team at Student-support@staffs.ac.uk for advice.
You can read more about your rights and the law on the gov.uk website.