Council tax arrears have soared to £6bn a year, a sign that the collection process is ‘failing local authorities and taxpayers alike’, according to a report published today.
The total has leapt from about £2.5bn a decade ago, according to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
The think-tank’s report calls for a ‘more proportionate’ approach to debt collection, with a clearer distinction between those who cannot pay and those who refuse to.
It found correlation between the use of bailiffs and cases involving income deprivation, and warned that the current system allows councils to quickly advance to enforcement.
The CSJ pointed out that in cases where councils instructed bailiffs between 2019 and 2022, the proportion that settled after being paid in full fell from 21% to 15%.
CSJ head of debt Matthew Greenwood said: ‘Some people won’t pay their council tax even though they have the money and they should face the full force of the law.
‘But our evidence shows that the majority of non-payers are unable to meet their commitments and the often harsh repayment methods used by many local authorities are making repayment rates worse, not better.’
