Tough action on tax

We are reinforcing the message to residents ahead of an Executive Meeting on Monday (15 December 2009) that council tax must be paid. We are aware that the challenging economic situation could leave some people struggling to pay bills but local authorities rely on council tax along with government grants to help fund vital services.

We have increased our council tax collection rate over the past three years but still the uncollected figure for this year (2008/09) is predicted to be over £1million (£1.154million). The figure for council tax collected in 2007/08 was 94.6 per cent compared to 90.6 per cent in 2003/04 and over the next 12 months we expect to recover £2.3million in unpaid tax from previous years. However, that still leaves £9million outstanding and the unpaid element of the tax could mean up to £12 extra on next year's bills.

The grant that Brent receives from central government has not kept pace with increased costs. The council is looking for ways of working more efficiently and significant savings have been made.

Councillor Bob Blackman, Deputy Leader of Brent Council, said: "We want to support those who are experiencing difficulty when making payments for council tax, while vigorously taking action against those who are not making any attempt to pay. Our commitment to helping people is demonstrated by this year giving almost three hundred local people longer to pay their bills. We believe there are many others who are experiencing difficulty and they should get in touch - doing nothing leads to additional costs in the long run and it's never too late to start sorting things out."

Councillor Blackman added: "We are ready to take tough action, including taking possession of the property for which council tax is owed if necessary. It is vital that Brent collects as much of the outstanding tax as possible to reduce the amount that everyone else has to pay."

Collection carries on for many years after the original debt arose. As an example, in the past three years, £1.6m has been collected for arrears relating to 2002 or earlier. The council has increased the debts recovered through attachments of earnings (currently 552), deductions from benefit (1,200) and charging orders on properties (over £400,000).

We provide 83 schools; 485 kilometres of roads and pavements; 100 parks and open spaces; 12 libraries; four sports centres; rubbish collection from 107,000 households and recycles 28,000 tonnes of waste along with hundreds of additional services. To discuss an outstanding council tax bill please contact us on 020 8937 1790, www.brent.gov.uk/ctax or visit your local One Stop Service office.