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Article: London failing to collect [pounds sterling]150m in council taxes; SEVEN PER CENT OF RESIDENTS ESCAPE WITHOUT PAYING THEIR BILLS.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- June 29, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: JASON BEATTIE
LONDON boroughs failed to collect [pounds sterling]150 million in council tax last year - enough to pay for 3,000 more police officers.
Government figures show uncollected tax has risen sharply over the past three years.
In inner London, seven per cent of council tax bills were not paid - despite a drive by ministers and local authorities to improve collection rates.
The Liberal Democrats said the shortfall was adding nearly [pounds sterling]50 to the bills of law-abiding residents. The worst hit borough was Hackney, which failed to collect 15 per cent of its bills at a cost of nearly [pounds sterling]10 million.