Unpaid Council Tax
Case reference FOI2019/00313
Published 16 April 2019
Request
Request for the following information:
1a) The total amount of Council Tax which was unpaid, by municipal year from 2012/13 and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);
1b) The total amount of Council Tax, which was owed but never paid by Universal Credit claimants since 2012/13 (broken down by municipal year and including any arrears in 2018/19 to date);
1c) The number of households in receipt of Universal Credit which are currently in arrears on their Council Tax;
2) Since the national introduction of Universal Credit from 2013 onwards, has your authority had to reduce the number of housing officers dealing with benefits queries because of a reduction in government funding? If so, please provide figures for government funding and staffing numbers (in Full Time Equivalents) before and after these reductions.
Response
1a) The amount of council tax arrears brought forward at the start of each financial year. These figures encompass all arrears for all previous years outstanding at that point.
2012/13 £3,449,000
2013/14 £3,334,000
2014/15 £3,323,000
2015/16 £3,416,000
2016/17 £2,751,000
2017/18 £2,860,000
2018/19 £3,281,000
1b) Universal credit is administered by the Department for Work & Pensions. We are not provided with a list of current claimants and cannot cross-reference. Customers who claim Local Council Tax Support who are also in receipt of Universal credit will declare that to us. However, our arrears reporting tools are based on debt which is due and has not been paid. The contents of individual Local Council Tax Support claims are not referenced when calculating outstanding arrears totals.
1c) See above
2. No adjustments have been made to the number of Housing Officers dealing with benefits because of a reduction in government funding.
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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