Bradford Council is upping council tax by 9.9 per cent from April after being given special permission by the Government.
Figures released to The i Paper show that between April last year and the start of February, Bradford Council obtained 27,922 liability orders – a type of court order that requires someone to pay a debt – after householders missed paying bills.
City Park, next to Bradford City Town Hall (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty)If none of these measures work, the council can take a household to court.
A total of 2,270 of these cases did not end up resulting in orders, with the council saying this is because the households involved either paid their bill in full, or the summons was withdrawn.
The 30,192 sent in 2024/25 is likely to increase, as the tax year has not yet ended and runs until the start of April.
Bradford is planning a 9.99 per cent council tax rise for 2024/25 – which is lower than the 14.99 per cent increase the council had requested.
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Read MoreAndrew Dixon, chairman of Fairer Share, which campaigns for council tax reform, said: “With a relatively high number of households already clearly struggling to pay their bills, a bumper rise in council tax, such as the 10 per cent increase in Bradford, is clearly not the answer, as it will push more families into debts they cannot afford.
“Sadly council tax has morphed into a wealth tax on hardworking families, but remains a service charge for the more affluent.”
The think tank said the poorest fifth of households across the UK paid 4.8 per cent of their income on council tax in 2020/21, up from 2.9 per cent in 2002/03 and three times more than the 1.5 per cent spent by the richest fifth.
Conor D’Arcy, deputy chief executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, added: “Council tax funds vital public services. But the way many local authorities are chasing council tax debts is causing harm, can be counterproductive and is much more aggressive than what banks or credit card companies are allowed to do.
Bradford is a Labour-run local authority has has been granted special authorisation to increase council tax by nearly 10 per cent this April as it battles to stave off bankruptcy.
It is one of six local authorities in England permitted to increase council tax beyond 4.99 per cent withour holding a local referendum
Residents have told The i Paper they may be unable to pay increased bills from spring. But others have pointed out that services need to improve and the rise in council tax is needed in order for that to happen.
Bradford Council was contacted for comment.
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