A positive update from Myles Fitt
The Scottish Citizens Advice network deals with a lot of cases involving Council Tax (CT), mainly helping people who are struggling to make payment or who have amassed varying amounts of arrears.
In 2024/25, we helped nearly 3,200 people with more than £10.6 million in CT debt, with the average debt being £3,327.
CT is regarded as a ‘priority debt,’ due to the speed and scale of the debt recovery process. So our advisers do what they can to help people in debt to make some form of repayment and thus avoid the harsh consequences of bank accounts being arrested.
This valuable experience and insight made us ideal partners in a Scottish Government-funded project aimed at working collaboratively with councils to tackle CT debt. The project, which was rolled out nationally in May, seeks to help prevent and alleviate the impact of CT debt, while equally helping councils in the collection of the CT revenue.
We’re at the half-way stage of this project, and I’m delighted to share some of the excellent progress we’ve made.
It’s been heartening to see so many joint activities between local CABs and their councils. Developing referral processes, establishing adviser points of contact, holding reciprocal adviser sessions so CAB and council advisers can learn from each other, while forming strong working relationships. Also raising awareness of where people can get help and sometimes going into communities with outreach events.
Other activities have looked at prevention of CT debt, eg increasing the visibility of what discounts, exemptions and reductions are available to ensure that those who need this help receive it. And reviewing CT billing, reminders and website content to maximise clarity so that people understand what they need to pay and when. CABs have found that sometimes people fall into arrears because they don’t understand the communications they receive from the council.
One council is looking at identifying people who have gone into arrears for the first time and offering them support, the idea being these arrears may be a potential first sign of financial difficulty. By reaching out with an offer of help this intervention may stop further arrears building up. Helping early to avoid later challenges.
In some councils, there will now be three-way meetings between the council, the CAB and the sheriff's officers (who perform the legal recovery of CT debt). These meetings will allow valuable feedback and adjustments to the recovery process based on the experience of CAB advisers and people who use the service.
Every joint activity is meaningful. Councils gain financially through receiving CT income that they would not otherwise have had, and by reducing their debt recovery costs. And of course people are supported financially and don’t have the huge distress of spiralling arrears. With these initiatives, CT debt is either avoided altogether, or the repayment of arrears is made more manageable.
There is much still to do, but so far the project is making great progress, and it’s a terrific example of how the CAB network makes a difference, not just by delivering advice but by collaborating with others in activities that will help communities across the country.
Myles Fitt is head of the Financial Health Team at Citizens Advice Scotland.
This column was first published in the Herald.
