Council chasing Northumberland tax dodgers

At almost £3.8m, Blyth Valley is responsible for by far the biggest share of the £8.7m in council tax owed to the six former councils. Investigations are now being carried out by county council officials into the previous approach to chasing up arrears there.

The unitary council is setting up a unified and more stringent system of collecting council tax, which has led to some people being sent warning letters or court summonses wrongly stating they have not paid their bills.

County Hall bosses have apologised to anyone who receives the letters when they have paid, but say tougher action is needed to make sure that £145m of council tax is collected this year - and that they claw back as much as possible of the missing £8.7m. It is claimed some people in Blyth Valley have got away with not paying their council tax for several years.

Yesterday Lib Dem county council leader Jeff Reid said: "We have now got a more stringent collection system in place because we have inherited these problems of unpaid council tax, particularly in Blyth Valley.

"The message is simple: we have to have money to deliver council services and to do that people have to pay their council tax bills. I was a member of Blyth Valley Council for 14 years and I was never made aware of the dire straits the collection service was obviously in.

"Blyth Valley's Labour council seemed to be very good at spending money, but not so good at collecting it. This all beggars belief really. The £8.7m owed to the districts would be very nice to have at the moment, when we are facing a number of challenges on the unitary council."

It is expected to be several weeks before the new integrated collection system is in place, and the council has stressed no one who has paid their council tax will be subject to recovery action.

Last night former Blyth Valley Council leader Dave Stephens said: "We received regular reports about council tax arrears and Jeff Reid is well aware of that. Blyth Valley was the biggest district in the county and by its very nature had more council tax non-payers.

"As far as I am concerned we managed this issue in a professional but compassionate way. Our approach aimed to ensure people avoiding council tax were pursued but those with genuine problems were treated fairly."

The breakdown of what is owed in unpaid council tax to the six former district councils is as follows:

Blyth Valley £3,797,965
Wansbeck £1,995,458
Berwick £872,579
Tynedale £793,455
Castle Morpeth £661,135
Alnwick £591,228

A county council spokesman said: "We are investigating two issues that have come to light in the former Blyth Valley area; the apparent lack of success in the bailiff arrangements following up council tax debts that were owed, and the problems faced by implementing the county's new system for residents to make payments.

"The fact that a large proportion of the post-summons balance for Blyth Valley involves bailiffs returning the debt to the council calls into question the effectiveness of the previous system there, and this is an issue being thoroughly investigated."