The cost of living crisis has been blamed for more than half a million pounds of council tax going uncollected in Barking and Dagenham.
A report to Barking and Dagenham Council leaders this week says its collection rate is 0.5 per cent behind what it was last year – equal to £576,678.
The report attributes the fall to “the continued cost of living crisis, combined with rising council tax levels”.
The council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it had collected £96,017,931 of the year’s council tax by the end of quarter three, in December 2025. This is 77.8 per cent of the full year’s amount.
By the same point in the previous year it had collected £88,345,789. Although this is less money, it represented 78.3 per cent of that full year’s amount.
That means the rate of collection has fallen by 0.5 per cent – which the council confirmed equates to £576,678.
A report on council tax collection to the Labour administration’s cabinet said there had been “increasing demand” on the town hall’s collection service.
It attributed this to council tax increases and the cost-of-living crisis.
The report also noted that councillors last year agreed to reduce the maxmum council tax discounts for the lowest income families from 85 per cent to 63 per cent.
It says this “has resulted in a significant increase in council tax charged to the lowest income residents of the borough”.
The report adds that some £360,000 of discretionary council tax relief has been awarded to some council taxpayers “to provide additional support for residents facing financial hardship following the reduction in the council tax support scheme”.
It also says the council has agreed repayment plans with some residents “to accommodate this unprecedented increase in the amount charged”.
Speaking at the cabinet, Labour council leader Dominic Twomey said the town hall is “working sensitively with families that are really struggling”.
Cllr Twomey said: “Council tax collection we know is very difficult for our residents, particularly during the cost of living crisis.
“This cost-of-living crisis affects people and businesses in a place like Barking and Dagenham more than it does in many other areas because we know we have these levels of deprivation and hardship.”
