Close to a million quid was written off by Thanet Council in unpaid council tax last year, according to new figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government. The figure was the sixth highest in England, excluding London Boroughs and Unitary Authorities, and the second highest in the South East, excluding UAs, after Brighton.
Meanwhile rumours are spreading that the council may have to return up to half a million smackers in EU grants after Euro-auditors discovered a number of irregularities in the way the dosh had been administered. More cock-up than conspiracy, it seems, as one line of inquiry relates to an EU aided commercial development where some numb-nuts apparently forget to ensure the deeds to the land had been transferred into the council's name. I mean, it's almost like they're giving it away, isn't it?
Oh well, with Councillor Latchford and co currently swanning it up over in China, I'm sure they'll come back with the bacon. Maybe they'll have a torch procession round the island? No, er, on second thoughts in the light of recent fiery events on the Ile that may not be such a good idea!
Click here for breakdown of written-off council tax in England by area
7 comments:
At least our council is consistent
Consistently crap.
Say what you like, its not the council that does not pay the tax, its a small percentage of the residents. There comes a time when you have to say, 'How much will it cost to recover the unpaid debt? and how much will be recovered?'
If you, as a council tax payer, want us to spend more of your money to get less back, say so!
Ken - I agree that there's no point pursuing debts ad inf. but doesn't this table show that whatever procedures our council has in place to recover debt are not as robust as most other councils in England?
We all know the council scored badly on financial matters in the last review, this seems to be proof of the pudding.
I expect you get briefed by the bean counters that a lot of it is due to the nature of Thanet's population, but other councils with similar problems do appear to be putting in more of an effort to collect what's due. Divide this huge amount by the number of households on the island and it equates to a bit less than the annual cost of bin collection per household. Just think, if it was paid we could all have our bins emptied for free! Well, OK, probably not, but still!
I have to disagree! this is just another example of bad management, and I bet the people responsible get a whacking great bonus too.
First born male child.
TDC have to explain why it wrote off such a huge amount, this is twice Birmingham city's amount. TDC are very quick to send out court orders for late business rates!
Post a Comment