The bill for unpaid Council Tax has hit more than two billion pounds, but changes to the system mean it's now harder to collect.
The bill for Council Tax arrears in England has soared to just under £2.4billion, or £104 per household, Government data has shown.
These figures include debts which have been allowed to build up during the past 20 years since Council Tax was introduced.
Eric Pickles, Local Government Secretary, has used the data to attack Labour for not dealing with tax evasion properly.
He said the arrears bill proves that if collection rates improved local councils could use this money to put towards improving local services.
Council Tax arrears by authority
Liverpool owes the highest amount of Council Tax with a total unpaid bill of £113 million, which works out at around £528 per household on average.
It was followed by other Northern cities such as Manchester, owing £52 million, Durham at £41 million and Sheffield with a slightly smaller bill of £33 million.
Five of the top ten locations were also found in London – such as Hackney with a debt of £39 million, or £385 per person and Lambeth which owes £41 million or £307 per household.
These figures were released to Parliament by Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis and they relate to the outstanding Council Tax payments from March 2012.
Local authorities which owe the most
|
Rank |
Local authority |
Amount outstanding (£m) |
|
1 |
Liverpool |
113,758 |
|
2 |
Birmingham |
98,670 |
|
3 |
Manchester |
52,655 |
|
4 |
Croydon |
43,563 |
|
5 |
Durham |
41,503 |
|
6 |
Lambeth |
41,115 |
|
7 |
Hackney |
39,653 |
|
8 |
Sheffield |
33,482 |
|
9 |
Enfield |
33,449 |
|
10 |
Lewisham |
33,037 |
Local authorities which owe the least
|
Rank |
Local authority |
Amount outstanding (£'000s) |
|
1 |
Isles of Scilly |
117 |
|
2 |
City of London |
137 |
|
3 |
Rutland |
517 |
|
4 |
Ribble Valley |
644 |
|
5 |
South Cambridgeshire |
664 |
|
6 |
Oadby & Wigston |
677 |
|
7 |
Amber Valley |
695 |
|
8 |
Malvern Hills |
696 |
|
9 |
Wychavon |
725 |
|
10 |
Eden |
777 |
Collection problems
[SPOTLIGHT]Nine out of ten authorities in the top list are under Labour control and therefore Pickles has used the data as an excuse to criticise the way in which these councils collect Council Tax.
But these Labour-led towns are all in areas of the country where people have less money. Therefore Labour has said it's not a case of people not wanting to pay tax, it's a case of them not being able to afford to.
That situation is about to get worse too...
Council Tax changes
The Council Tax system has had a major overhaul and local councils are now in control of collecting Council Tax.
Council Tax Reduction has also been introduced, which is basically a replacement for Council Tax Benefit. It’s there to help people who can’t afford to pay their Council Tax but it doesn’t offer the same benefits as the previous scheme. This means many people are now having to pay this tax, which is on average £247 a year, for the first time.
In an economy where incomes are squeezed and cuts are taking place across the board, it’s unlikely this change will do little to help the problem of Council Tax arrears.
You can find out more in our article: Council Tax Reduction schemes: what you need to know.