Council tax collection

“Scandal and disgrace” of millions in uncollected tax

MEDWAY Council has been labeled as “incompetent” after figures revealed the area has the worst council tax collection rate in the South East.

The Labour party blasted the council after 2010-11 stats showed nearly £6 million in domestic council tax and business rates was outstanding.

The report from public services union GMB showed Medway to be the worst of 67 councils in the region, but the town hall has issued a robust defence of its procedures.

Tory deputy leader Cllr Alan Jarrett said: “Every year the unions and Labour release statements like this with their out of date figures and misleading information. They use figures from March last year, but do not include recovered debt, which has more than halved to £2m this year.

“They always fail to take into account that Medway is one of the largest councils in the South East, and therefore can’t be fairly compared to smaller authorities.

“We make every effort to recover all council tax debt, but equally we need to offer support, such as benefits and longer repayment options, where people are facing genuine hardship. We expect to collect 98.6 per cent of all money over a four to five year period, which is in line with many other local authorities.”

The latest figures showed Medway topping the table with more than £4m of unrecovered domestic council tax and £1,175,000 in non-domestic (business) rates.

Medway Labour’s deputy leader and finance chief, Cllr Vince Maple, said: “This is just the latest piece of news that further proves the Medway Conservatives are out of touch, in a week when we see the administration breaking election promises.

“It is morally bankrupt that whilst Tories propose closures of local care homes on the basis of finance, the public are reading about overspending on projects, mismanaged data and poor financial control.”

Dartford council came 12th in the South East, with £2,695,000 of uncollected tax, followed by Thanet with £2,642,000, Swale with £2,628,000, Maidstone with £2,606,000 and Shepway with £1,907,000 outstanding.

Canterbury City Council was the fourth best performer in the region with only £858,000 of tax unrecovered and Dover Council came sixth with an uncollected tax bill of £973,000.

A spokesman from the GMB added: “It is a scandal and a disgrace when vital services for our elderly and our children in communities are being slashed due to government cuts in funding that more than £1billion nationally is going uncollected in council tax and business rates.”

This week Medway Council agreed new budget proposals which will see the council tax rate remain the cheapest in Kent for 2012-13.

A second year freeze would mean that the charge for an average Band ‘D’ property in Medway will remain at £1,119.15 a year, this is roughly £130 cheaper than anywhere else in the county.