Sharp increase in council tax court cases

Wiltshire Council is dragging more people through the courts because of late or non payment of Council Tax. In replying to a question from Cllr Jeff Osborn the council admitted a 10% increase in court orders - about 1,000 households per month compared with a normal rate of about 900.

The increase follows the government's changes to benefits inclusing the switch from Council Tax Benefit to the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which is administered by Wiltshire Council. Even people in receipt of CTR, and hence not liable for the full rate of Council Tax due to their very low income, are being prosecuted to deprive them of that which they have. 1,900 families in this category have been taken to court in the last seven months - more than a quarter of all those on CTR.