Jump in unpaid council tax in Herefordshire

Herefordshire’s unpaid council tax bill has risen by over a million pounds over the past year, new figures show.

Herefordshire Council said in response to a freedom of information request that at the end of February, £9,357,152 due from residents in council tax had not been paid.

This marks a 12.5 per cent rise over the same figure a year previously, of £8,316,100. Five years ago, the figure stood at just £5,304,904.

The council is currently pursuing 6,780 households over unpaid bills. Over past year it has issued 6,141 summonses, and made 3,111 referrals to “enforcement agents” or bailiffs.

Herefordshire already exempts around one in seven households from paying council tax, a policy it recently confirmed would stay, due to “the continuing impact of the rising cost of living”.

In the last financial year, 6,570 bill payers of working age were granted the exemption, along with 4,885 pensioners, with the total value of forgone income to the council put at £14.2 million.

Papers with the decision say it was prompted in part by a wish not to increase the number of households not paying, or to incur further costs in pursuing them.

There are 82,800 households in Herefordshire in total, according to the 2021 census.