Swansea residents owe £7.55m in unpaid Council Tax

National Debtline warns many local residents are not receiving the free advice they need, as Council Tax bills rise by 3.95%

Recently published official figures have revealed that residents in Swansea owe a total of £7.55m in unpaid Council Tax, leading a national debt charity to warn that many residents are not receiving the free advice they need to deal with Council Tax and other debts.

The figures published by the Welsh Government show that residents in the Swansea local authority area owed £7.55m in unpaid Council Tax bills at 31 March 2016.  This compares to a figure of £7.95m for the previous year.

National Debtline, the free advice service run by the Money Advice Trust, said the fact that so much Council Tax debt is still outstanding is a further sign that more residents in Swansea would benefit from help in tackling their financial problems.

The warning comes as residents are paying more Council Tax than in previous years.  In April, Council Tax bills for residents in Swansea rose by 3.95% – with the average bill for a Band D household amounting to £1395 for 2016/17, compared to £1342 for 2015/16.

National Debtline receives around 440 calls each year from residents in Swansea seeking advice on how to resolve their debt problems, and expects that this number could increase– with higher council tax bills adding to the pressure for many households who already have stretched budgets.

The charity, which also offers free online advice at www.nationaldebtline.org, says that Council Tax is now one of the fastest growing types of problem debt it is helping clients to resolve – with 25 percent of all callers now in arrears, up from 14 percent in 2007.

Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, said:

“The level of unpaid Council Tax in Swansea remains a concern.  With people in the area now paying 3.95% more in Council Tax than they were this time last year, there is a risk that residents who are already behind will find it even more difficult to resolve their financial difficulty.

“Council Tax is vital in funding the essential local services that we all rely on, and local authorities are already under significant financial pressure – so it is in everyone’s interests that arrears are repaid. We would urge all councils to do everything they can to ensure that residents in difficulty are signposted to free advice that will help them get back on track.

“Anyone in and around Swansea who is finding it hard to make their Council Tax payments should contact National Debtline or a local agency such as Citizens Advice as early as possible. The earlier you seek free advice, the quicker and easier the problem will be to solve.”

National Debtline offers free, independent and confidential advice 24 hours a day online at www.nationaldebtline.org and on 0808 808 4000, Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm, Saturday 9.30am to 1pm.

In 2015 the charity behind National Debtline, the Money Advice Trust, published its Stop the Knock report which examined local authorities’ use of bailiffs to collect Council Tax and other debts across England and Wales.

A very helpful guide can be found by clicking on the following link: https://www.companydebt.com/debt-resources/