Collecting Council Tax and rent

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What is measured?

Performance Indicator (A) shows the council's cost of collecting council tax highlighting how efficient this process is.

Collection cost includes billing, collection and debt recovery administration. Dwellings are those on the council's valuation list at 31 March at the end of the reporting year. It excludes garages, car ports, car parking spaces and domestic storage premises.

Indicator (B) shows how effective the council is in collecting current council tax due.

Income due is the amount of council tax payable for the year. It excludes all water and sewerage charges, and any outstanding council tax from previous years. Reliefs and rebates are council tax benefit, single person discount, and any other permitted reductions to individual bills.

Indicator (C) reveals the level of rent loss due to council houses remaining empty when they are available for letting.

Indicators (D) are a measure of the council's performance in collecting rent due to it from its current tenants. It shows the level of serious arrears cases, the extent to which tenants are leaving their tenancy with rent arrears and the extent of those arrears. It also indicates the extent to which councils are successful in managing arrears owed by former tenants.

Indicator (E) details the average number of weeks rent owed by tenants leaving in arrears.

Indicator (F) details the average debt owed by tenants leaving their tenancies with arrears.

How are we doing?

Our overall performance for collecting Council Tax and rent in 2010/2011 was the same as in 2009/2010.

Statutory Performance Indicator (A): The cost per dwelling of collecting Council Tax (£)

2010/2011	£15.11
2009/2010	£14.09
2008/2009	£13.80
Council target for 2011/2012	£15.50
Trend

The cost per dwelling of collecting Council Tax (£) was higher in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

Statutory Performance Indicator (B): The income due from Council Tax for the year, net reliefs and rebates, and the percentage of that which was received during the year.

£63,762,226 was due from Council Tax for the year excluding reliefs and rebates, below the income due in 2009/2010 of £63,998,597 and in 2008/2009 of £64,266,306.

Of the total amount of Council Tax due in 2010/2011, 95.1% was collected by the end of the year. This compares favourably with the average figure for Scottish councils of 94.6%. This figure is also higher than the figures for 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

2010/2011	95.1%
2009/2010	94.6%
2008/2009	94.5%
Council target for 2011/2012	95.2%
Trend

Statutory Performance Indicator (C): The total annual rent loss due to voids expressed as a proportion of the total amount of rent due in the year.

2010/2011	2.9%
2009/2010	2.1%
2008/2009	2.6%
Council target for 2011/2012	2.75%
Trend

The efficiency with which the council undertakes the process of managing changes in tenancy (particularly, the time taken to identify and carry out any repairs necessary before a new tenant can move in) is an important determinant of performance.

The level of rent loss due to council houses remaining empty when they are available for letting was higher in 2010/2011 than 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

Statutory Performance Indicator (D): Rent management

Current tenant arrears as a percentage of the net amount of rent due in the year

2010/2011	8.6%
2009/2010	9.6%
2008/2009	11.1%
Council target for 2011/2012	8.1%
Trend

The percentage of current tenants owing more than 13 weeks rent at year end, excluding those owing less than £250

2010/2011	7%
2009/2010	8.5%
2008/2009	8.8%
Council target for 2011/2012	6.8%
Trend

The proportion of tenants giving up their tenancy during the year that were in rent arrears

2010/2011	48.4%
2009/2010	54%
2008/2009	61.9%
Council target for 2011/2012	50%
Trend

Current tenant arrears as a percentage of the total amount of rent due was lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

The percentage of current tenants owing more than 13 weeks rent (excluding those owing less than £250) was lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

The proportion of tenants giving up their tenancy during the year that were in rent arrears was lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.


The percentage of former tenant arrears written off or collected during the year

2010/2011	62.5%
2009/2010	66%
2008/2009	52.3%
Council target for 2011/2012	60%
Trend

Statutory Performance Indicator (E): The average number of weeks rent owed by tenants leaving in arrears

2010/2011	9 weeks
2009/2010	8.1 weeks
2008/2009	11 weeks
Council target for 2011/2012	8 weeks
Trend

Statutory Performance Indicator (F): The average debt owed by tenants leaving their tenancies with arrears

2010/2011	£570.72
2009/2010	n/a
2008/2009	n/a
Council target for 2011/2012	n/a
Trend	n/a

The percentage of former tenant arrears written off or collected during the year was lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

The average number of weeks rent owed by tenants leaving in arrears was higher in 2010/2011 than in 2009//2010 but lower than in 2008/2009.

What factors influenced our performance?

The cost of collecting council tax per dwelling is affected by the ability and willingness of taxpayers to pay, and the extent of enforcement action taken by the council to recover tax due to it. The ability of the council to negotiate with Scottish Water a fee or income to recover the cost of collection for water and sewerage charges will also have some impact on collection costs.

The collection of council tax is affected by the willingness of taxpayers to inform the council about changes in their circumstances that affect liability to pay. Account accuract is a key component of effective billing and collection.

Managing tenancy change is affected by the condition, type and location of property. It will also be affected by the level of demand for council housing in an area.

The collection of rent due from existing tenants is affected by the payment method, notification of changes to rent levels, and the management of rent arrears. Good rent management processes help to keep arrears down and, therefore, reduce the extent to which tenants either leave their tenancies in arrears or are evicted as a result of arrears.

The council's strategy is to sustain tenancies and minimise evictions and by doing this the council is carrying high level debts that will take a significant period of time to clear.

What are we doing to improve our performance?

The council actively encourages taxpayers to report changes in circumstance that affect council tax liability and has introduced effective performance management of workload in order to update accounts within agreed performance targets. At present, our target response time for all Council Tax correspondence, including complaints, is 10 days.

Direct Debit remains the most cost-effective way to collect Council Tax, and it is our aim to increase the percentage of households paying by this method from 53.43% in 2010/2011 to 54.50% in 2011/2012 - a target increase of 1.07%.

Council tax debt recovery has been centralised in a professional debt team and effective monitoring and management of the council's collection agents has been introduced.

It is hoped that the impact of the SHQS works programme investment alongside system improvements through transforming housing will see a medium to long term reverse in the percentage of rent due lost due to voids and maximising of rental income.