Citizens Advice estimates that 4.4% of the population, which potentially equates to around 2.3 million adults in the UK, have missed a council tax payment because of Covid-19. But how should local councils respond to these debts in both the short and long term? 

What Is the Short Term Response of Local Councils?

Chair of the Local Government Association’s resources board, Richard Watts says: “Councils are putting in place a wide range of measures to help residents who are facing financial hardship because of the virus. Some have delayed taking council tax payments for first two months of the year rather than the last and most councils have also suspended recovery action for people with existing arrears. Government has provided councils with funding to make deductions from council tax bills for some low-income residents. Many are also offering other hardship and local welfare support. Anyone struggling to pay their council tax bill should contact their council as soon as possible to find out what support is available to them.”

Furthermore, charities such as Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Trust and StepChange Debt Charity are all calling for changes to regulations on how council tax is collected. These organisations have openly welcomed the Government's temporary ban on bailiff visits to enforce debts during Covid-19 restrictions, and have stated that the methods the government has adopted to protect people's finances during the crisis have been important. These measures are temporary, however. And looking to the long term, councils need to commit to more firm and sustainable council tax debt recovery and local authority debt recovery measures. It’s important to note that local councils provide a number of vital public services, including transport, libraries, leisure and recreation, rubbish collection and disposal, and the police force, to name but a few.  

The Long Term Approach

In a post Covid-19 world council tax and local government debt recovery methods will need to be pursued with confidence and efficiency. Those local councils who can maximise their debt recovery productivity, whilst also maintaining fair debt collection practices, will reap the most rewards. And those councils who pursue highly automated council tax recovery processes will find success. By automating the processes long term, labour costs are saved and the whole debt life-cycle can be managed, error-free, from invoice generation all the way to the final settlement of council tax debt.

Software for government and local authorities can provide its users with a raft of innovative features, such as case management tools, VoIP and telephony solutions, and advanced workflow automation, which is high customisable and is engineered to the specific needs of the local council or local authority.  

Local council tax debt recovery software can also integrate seamlessly with TCN’s leading cloud-based SMS technology, as a part of a wider omni-channel approach to pursuing council tax debt with efficiency.

Lateral’s council tax debt recovery software has proudly boasted ISO 27001 Certification since 2013, which truly reflects the objectives and values of the company. Get in touch to find out how Lateral’s software for government and local authorities can help you establish long term, successful council tax debt collection practices.