Dorset and BCP residents owe £45m in council tax

BCP Council was unable to collect £21.4m in the last three financial years

Dorset's two main councils are owed tens of millions in council tax arrears, including more than £45m from the last three years.

Dorset Council was owed £26.8m from bills issued between April 2021 to 2024, although it said, as of 1 August, the figure was £23.6m.

BCP Council was left with £21.4m of unpaid bills issued in the same period, but both councils said their collection rates were higher than the national average.

The arrears represent 62,487 accounts across both unitary authorities.

Some £258.6m of BCP Council's £356.9m budget comes from council tax.

In February, the authority said its financial situation was "as bad as it could be" as it announced £44m of cuts for 2024/25.

In 2023/24 it collected 96.3% of council tax within that year - the national average for all councils was 95.9% - and it eventually expects to collect 99% of all the money owed for that period.

More than 80% of Dorset Council's budget comes from council tax

A council spokesperson said staff worked tirelessly to collect unpaid council tax, adding: "The last few years have seen lockdowns and the current cost of living crisis, so it is inevitable that people across the country have been struggling to pay."

Nearly 82% of Dorset Council's £376.7m budget comes from council tax.

It achieved a 96.2% collection rate during 2023/24.

In April, the authority said it was delivering a balanced budget without the need for cuts.

The Local Government Association said councils had a duty to collect taxes to protect services.

A spokesperson said: "They do their best to protect those affected the most, whether through introducing hardships funds or taking a sympathetic and constructive approach to the way they collect unpaid tax.

"Anyone having trouble paying their council bills should get in touch with their local authority for financial help and advice."

The figures for unpaid council tax were gathered by Accident Claims Advice which submitted Freedom of Information requests to both authorities.