Fife Council faces “serious” council tax shortfall as number of Fifers in arrears shoots up

Councillor Tim Brett, chairman of Fife Council’s Environment, Finance and Communities Scrutiny Committee, revealed this week that the number of Fifers in arrears has shot up in the last year.

The number of people who were in arrears at this time in 2019 was 9606, but for the same period this year it is 23,723, an increase of over 14,000.

Cllr Brett said: “The cash position as of September 30 is that cash collected by the council in the current year is £22,628,393, which was £988,565 up on the same position in 19/20 when £21,639,828 was collected.

“However, based on the council tax increase of just short of five per cent, we would have been looking at an annual increase in cash terms of £6m for the year. If this funding had been received, there should have been a cash increase of £3 million. There is therefore a shortfall after the first six months of the year of about £2m from where we would have expected to be.”

Cllr Brett added: “Whilst there may be an improvement in the position before the year end, it is clear that Fife along with nearly all other councils is facing a serious shortfall in council tax income in the current year. Councils have been receiving additional funding from both the Scottish and UK Governments but this is another pressure that will have to be factored into the council’s financial position.”

Councillor Craig Walker, convener of the Asset and Corporate Services sub-committee, said: “This isn’t specific to Fife, unfortunately, given the coronavirus pandemic, this is a national issue and we’re in the same position as all other 31 councils in Scotland.

“We’re working nationally with COSLA to assess the overall impact and have and will continue to support any customers who need help. We’re also taking any necessary action against those who can pay but choose not to.

“I would encourage anyone who is experiencing problems paying, or have fallen behind with your council tax payments to please contact the council as soon as they can on 03451 55 11 55 or visit www.fife.gov.uk/counciltax so we can help get you back on track.”