Most councils behind on council tax collection

Five of the six councils in Berkshire have fallen behind on collecting council tax, potentially costing each hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The unitary authorities confirmed they were either behind their targets or not keeping pace with previous years.

The only council in the county whose collection rate was on target was Wokingham Borough Council.

Council leaders blamed the cost of living crisis as well as the Covid pandemic.

Slough Borough Council aimed to have collected 63.8% of this financial year's council tax - running until the end of March 2025 - by the end of December 2024.

While it only fell short of its target by less than 1%, that amounted to £923,000.

The council's director of financial transactions, Andy Jeffs, told a meeting of council leaders that "all councils" were struggling and blamed the rising cost of living.

Both West Berkshire Council and Reading Borough Council said they were down by 0.31% on last year's figure, although neither confirmed what that equated to in cash terms.

A spokesperson for West Berkshire said: "We are considering what can be done to improve collection. All different options are being considered."

Bracknell Forest Council said it was down 0.6% on last year, amounting to to just over £600,000.

The council said, due to increases in the tax base and tax levels, it had collected £4m more than last year.

Meanwhile, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead reported that by October last year it was 1.25% down on the previous year.

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