Frontline service success thanks to local residents and businesses

July 1, 2022

People across South Cambridgeshire have been thanked for their ongoing support for vital public services like social care and police after the District Council was named second in the country for Council Tax collection across England.

Residents and businesses are being praised for playing their part in supporting public services through prompt council tax payment, as the country emerges from the COVID pandemic and residents now face a rising cost of living.

Cllr John Williams, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Resources, said: “Despite the many challenges we are living through, our local residents and businesses must be thanked for supporting vital frontline services for everyone in the community. Being able to collect such a high proportion of the Council Tax and Business Rates due means local services benefit, which ultimately benefits everyone in the community.

“It is difficult times for everyone, and we have of course, worked sensitively with those who needed help paying their bills – such as arranging payment plans to spread those payments. We are always here to help residents who are concerned about their ability to pay in any way we can, and I would encourage those residents or businesses with understandable continuing worries to contact us as soon as possible.”

South Cambridgeshire District Council is the second from top performing council out of more than 320 tax-collecting authorities in England.

Government collection rates for Council Tax in England show that for the financial year 2021-2022, South Cambridgeshire District Council:

• Collected 99.2% of the total amount of Council Tax due from residents. This amounts to £126,976,000. Almost £127 million.  * National collection rate average 95.9%

• Collected 99% of Business Rates due from local businesses. This amounts to £84,973,000. Almost £85 million. * National collection rate average 95.5%

• The total collected by South Cambridgeshire District Council, is almost £212 million.

The District Council collects Council Tax from residents and businesses before passing on most of it to several frontline local services including Cambridgeshire Police, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, Cambridgeshire County Council and Parish / Town Councils. Only around nine per cent of the public’s Council Tax bill goes towards the District Council’s services.

Income from Non-Domestic rates is shared between Central Government, County Councils, District Councils and Fire Authorities, with the District Councils retaining 40 per cent.

By the end of March 2022, authorities across England had collected £33.9 billion of council tax and achieved an average in-year collection rate of 95.9 per cent, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year.