Council tax arrears of more than £6million owed to Chichester District Council

Along with almost £2m of business rates arrears, the figures represented the highest proportion of all debts owed to the council.

The numbers – £6,265,118 and £1,973,473 respectively – were shared during a meeting of the corporate governance and audit committee on Monday (October 30).

With the council responsible for collecting council tax for the county and parish councils as well as Sussex Police and the Fire & Rescue service and only keeping around nine per cent for its own use, the impact on the district itself is not as ominous as the figures would suggest.

And while collection rates are high – 99 per cent was mentioned during the meeting – the money can often be slow to materialise.

Paul Jobson, revenues & debt recovery manager, said: “Across the country, collection rates have reduced because there is less money out there and it’s harder to get that payment in on time.

“The 99 per cent collection takes longer but we still get it.

“Chichester is really a late paying area rather than non-paying. Most individuals are not non-payers, they will be late payers because of their circumstances.”

Mr Jobson said that enforcement was a last resort and it was his team’s job to not be too officious but to stay firm and give people the right advice about paying their bills.

He added: “At the end of the day we are here to make sure the funds are coming in for the other services to use.

“It does get harder each year.”

The meeting was also told that some £1.3m of debts were written off in 2022/23, compared with £780,000 in 2021/22.

Reasons for the write-offs included the fact that some one had died, the debtor being insolvent, or the cost of collecting the debt being higher than the debt itself.