Council tax now Scotland's 'number one debt issue'

CAS said the number of people claiming Council Tax Reduction has fallen by over 80,000 since the new system was introduced in 2013.

A campaign has been launched to help people struggling to pay their council tax as it emerged those seeking help owed £6.9m in unpaid bills.

It comes as Citizens Advice Scotland revealed the average debt of the 2,250 people it helped last year was £3,102.

Unpaid council tax, it said, was the "number one debt issue" its advisors dealt with.

The charity is urging people to check if they are entitled to exemptions, reductions and discounts.

CAS said the number of people claiming Council Tax Reduction has fallen by more than 80,000 since reforms in 2013.

The two-week Check to Save initiative is being launched.

Last month leading councils, including Edinburgh, Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire voted to increase council tax by almost 5%.

Myles Fitt, CAS' financial health spokesman, said: "Over recent years, council tax debt has grown to be the number one debt issue that people bring to Citizens Advice Bureaux.

"People coming to us for help last year owed a total of £6.9m to their local authorities. That works out to around £3,000 per person on average, three times the average council tax bill in Scotland."

It is hoped longer-term planning could make services more efficient

The campaign comes as most of the country's 32 local authorities are set to increase council tax rates.

Mr Fitt added: "We think local authorities should be do everything they can to ensure more people access these savings to help those least able to pay higher council tax bills.

"We know that over 80,000 fewer people in Scotland are claiming council tax reduction than when the system was introduced seven years ago, and we fear that lots of families are missing out on savings they are entitled to."

CAS staff member Catherine Henry discovered that her own father, who has MS, was in line for an exemption while trying out an online tool to check for entitlements.

While testing out the tool she entered his details and discovered he had been been wrongly paying council tax for nine years.

Ms Henry said: "That experience just makes me really keen to get the message out there to people: try this thing out.

"You've got nothing to lose, and you could have hundreds or even thousands to gain."

Last month local government body Cosla warned Scottish councils need an extra £300m of funding just to "stand still".