Spending cuts: Councils 'missed' £530m in taxes

Cash-strapped local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales failed to collect £530m in council tax in 2009-10, a BBC investigation has found.

This is despite the fact that many councils face cuts due to reductions in funding from central government.

But many local authorities point out that these figures represent less than 2% of all council tax, and say they are continually clearing arrears.

The figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.

Simon Gompertz reports.