Council Tax Collection Rates, 2002-03

Introduction

In Wales, the county and county borough councils are billing authorities and collect council tax on behalf of themselves, local community councils and the relevant police authority within their area. This release gives information relating to the proportion of council tax successfully collected, amounts written off, and arrears for 2002-03, comparing the position to that for 2001-02.

Key Points

• In 2002-03, 95.9 per cent of council tax was collected by Welsh billing authorities in respect of bills for that year, 0.5 per cent more than that collected in the previous year in respect of 2001-02 bills.
• 18 of the 22 billing authorities recorded an increase in their collection rate in 2002-03 over that for 2001-02. Denbighshire recorded the largest increase in its collection rate in 2002-03 over the previous year.
• Billing authorities collected 100.2 per cent of the amounts they budgeted to collect when the council tax was set, with 12 of the 22 authorities exceeding the amounts they expected to collect.
• The amount actually collected in respect of 2002-03 bills, excluding council tax benefit, was £650 million; £28 million of the amounts billed for 2002-03 remained outstanding as arrears at 31 March 2003.
• During 2002-03, billing authorities collected £19 million out of the £57 million outstanding as arrears in respect of previous years, including those in respect of the former community charge, writing off £5 million as bad debts in the process.
• The total amount of arrears outstanding at 31 March 2003 stood at £60.9 million. This level of arrears is very similar to the position at 31 March 2002 (£60.8 million).

Contact:
Tel: 029 2082 3963
E-mail: stats.finance@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next Update:
July 2004