Uncollected taxes bill hits £100m for region

Around £102 million of council tax and business rates went uncollected in the West Midlands last year, a new study has found.

In England and Wales, the total figure topped more than £1 billion.

Stafford was owed £1.1m in council tax and £746,000 in non-domestic rates.

Birmingham was the worst in the region for outstanding local taxes, with £15m of council tax going uncollected and £18m in non-domestic rates, the study found.

Wolverhampton had £3.3m in uncollected council tax and almost £2.2m in non-domestic rates, while Sandwell had £1.4m outstanding in council tax and £2.4m in non-domestic rates.

Dudley had £1.7m of uncollected council tax and £1.8m of uncollected non-domestic rates, Walsall had £2.5m of outstanding council tax and £1m in non-domestic rates.

The figures relate to the 2010-11 financial year.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, which carried out the study, said today: "It is a scandal and a disgrace that, at a time when vital services for our elderly and our children in our local communities are being slashed due to government cuts in funding, that more than £1.082bn in England and Wales is going uncollected in council tax and business rates.

"Feeble excuses about being unable to collect these taxes no longer wash.

"Urgent reforms to assist hard-pressed council staff to collect these taxes are long overdue.

"It is high time that local and national politicians threw their weight behind our campaign for changes in the law relating to the way these taxes are collected, rather than dismissing our figures as distortions or exaggerations as many of them will do."

Will Conaghan, spokesman for Stafford Council, said: "Ultimately 99.7 per cent of all council tax money owed to us is collected."

Sandwell's finance boss, Councillor Steve Eling, said: "Our in-year council tax collection rates was over 98 per cent.

"We are one of the top performing metropolitan authorities.

"Collecting business rates is more difficult in a place like Sandwell because firms go out of business and it is more difficult to get the rates in."

Authority unpaid council tax unpaid business tax

Wolverhampton £3,364,000 £2,192,000

Shropshire £3,109,000 £1,974,000

Sandwell £1,418,000 £2,410,000

Dudley £1,757,000 £1,838,000

Walsall £2,485,000 £1,076,000

Stafford £1,146,000 £746,000

Cannock Chase £709,000 £765,000

Wyre Forest £1,018,000 £437,000

Lichfield £629,000 £598,000