Council Tax Payments – help is on hand

Sefton Council remains committed to collecting all debts and continues to offer help and advice to residents struggling to pay their Council Tax.

Currently, Sefton Council’s Council Tax collection rate is 96% and the local authority continues to be serious about collecting any outstanding debts.

However, if residents are finding it difficult to pay their Council Tax and fall behind in their payments, help is available and residents are urged to please contact the Council as soon as possible.

Personal assessments can be made to assist with future payments with help, advice and signposting to organisations like the Citizen’s Advice Bureau all available.

Sadly, some people fail to contact Sefton Council with any debt problems and last year, more than 23,000 people were issued with a court summons for failing to pay their Council Tax.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulation and Compliance, said: “We will always do our best to collect what is rightly owed to us and feel we offer many valuable services through the income we receive from our Council Tax and Business Rates.

“However, we also recognise that some people struggle to pay their Council Tax bills. If this is the case, please don’t suffer in silence and contact us as early as possible.

“Help is available and the earlier people get in touch regarding their debts, the quicker we can assist them in meeting those payments.

“The last resort is prosecuting people for not paying their Council Tax and often this could be easily avoided.

“For every 1% of Council Tax we collect results in about £1.5m being spent on vital services that support our communities. It makes sense that the more we collect then the more we have to have to spend in the future.”

For more information, including help and advice on paying your council tax, please call 0345 140 0845 or visit www.sefton.gov.uk/counciltax