The policy very much depends up upon the purpose of the visit. As part of the Council's Equalities Policy home visits are offered when a resident is unable to visit council offices.
Whenever possible, when visiting residents at home convenient dates and times are arranged. However, where the Council is investigating possible breaches of law, including issues such as tenancy agreements, visits may be made without prior arrangement.
The Council is required to visit Housing and Council Tax recipients to review or confirm information provided by the applicant in their claim to benefit.

These visits are currently carried out on both a pre-notified and un-notified basis, although under the new arrangements for the review of claims, from this month all visits will be pre-notified.

On an un-notified visit, if the timing is inconvenient for the benefit recipient, a further visit, at an agreed time and date is arranged. The purpose of the visit is explained to the applicant at the time of the first visit.

In the case of a pre-notified visit, the appointment letter explains the background to the visit and details any documents the visiting officer will need sight of at the time of the appointment.

In all cases where an appointment is arranged, every effort is made to make this at a time convenient to the benefit claimant.