£3bn council tax shortfall
COUNCILS are chasing £3billion in unpaid council tax from households in England, it has been revealed.
The huge shortfall means the worst-performing local authorities are failing to collect 10p in every £1 billed.
Government figures show £28.3billion was levied in council tax last year in total.
Almost £1billion of that went uncollected.
This was added to £0.55billion from the previous year and £1.5billion from before that.
The total unpaid council tax debt from households is now £3.02billion.
Birmingham has the biggest tally at £111million.
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and some London boroughs have huge arrears too.
By contrast, Ryedale and Richmondshire, both North Yorkshire, and Rutland, have arrears of under £1million.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Council tax has one of the highest collection rates of any tax.
“With local government in England facing an overall funding gap of almost £8billion by 2025, councils have little option but to reduce discounts for people on low incomes, some of whom find it a struggle to pay.”