Labour 'lets Northern heartlands dodge their council tax bills'

A string of authorities running cities in the North and Midlands have seen a huge increase in those trying to avoid paying their bills.

Figures released by the GMB Union show 400 authorities failed to collect £760million in council tax this year - £20million more than 12 months ago.

The failure adds at least £35 to the average household's bill.

One of those with the worst record is Salford, the constituency of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, the minister in charge of council tax. Nearly one in eight householders got away without paying last year.

The collection failure has infuriated protest groups and local government chiefs in the South, where local taxation bills and rates of payment are much higher.

Christine Melsom, of Is It Fair?, a campaign group lobbying to reform council tax, said: "There are an awful lot of people who have not had to pay their bills in Hazel Blears's back yard.

"This is money that has to be made up by taxpayers elsewhere. I would have thought Mrs Blears should be setting an example by encouraging her own local council to raise its game."

Nick Skellett, Tory leader of Surrey county council, where only one in 50 householders escaped paying their bills last year, said: "I understand the problems these authorities have, but there is a knock-on effect on bills in the south. I am not happy that there are authorities not collecting all their tax."

The figures show that while council tax bills have almost doubled since Labour came to power in 1997, collection rates have actually fallen.

The metropolitan councils running big cities in the Midlands and North have seen falls from 95.6 per cent to 95.3 per cent, compared with 98 per cent in the South. The worst authorities were found to be Manchester and Salford, both Labour-controlled.

In Manchester, collection rates fell from 89.1 per cent in 2006 to 87.3 per cent for the 2006/07 financial year - meaning one household in eight failed to pay its bills.

The collection rate has left the city with a shortfall of more than £13million, even though it sets one of the lowest bills in the country.

Government subsidies mean Manchester has 80 per cent of its spending met by ministers, with 20 per cent being paid through council tax.

In Surrey the position is the opposite: Council tax payers finance 80 per cent and the Government 20 per cent. In Salford council tax payers meet just 41 per cent of the town hall's bills.

Other rock-bottom collection rates were in Bradford and Birmingham, cities where no party has overall control, which returned figures of 91.8 per cent and 92.4 per cent. Collection rates fell in both.

Among the 36 metropolitan councils, 16 saw collection rates fall. Nine of these were councils controlled by Labour. Five had no overall control, one was Tory, and one Liberal Democrat.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association, umbrella body for councils, said: "Just because some council tax wasn't gathered by March this year, doesn't mean it will go uncollected."

However, Government figures published earlier this year showed £1.7billion in unpaid council tax still remained uncollected.