Aberdeen council chiefs must do better to stop people from falling into debt due to Town House delays, a senior councillor has said.
The city’s Conservative leader Richard Brooks spoke out after it emerged Aberdeen City Council is facing a processing delay that means families are suddenly getting hit with large council tax bills.
And a debt charity has urged local authority bosses not to send struggling residents’ cases straight to sheriff’s officers.
When people move house – either from a different area into Aberdeen or within the city – the council must process a change of address to ensure the household is paying the right amount of council tax.
That used to take a month – but that rose to three months around two years ago.
Now, however, the council is even missing that target – with some people claiming it is taking around six months.
‘It took six months so sort out’
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “It took over six months after I bought my house before I could get the council to issue me a council tax bill.
“They just did it retrospectively to the date we moved in.”
Receiving such a bill in one go would mean a Band A household would have to pay £678 while a Band H resident would have to pay £2,371 – plus monthly ongoing instalments of between £113 and £395.
Another resident, who moved between two properties in the Pittodrie area in July, said: “I used the council’s online portal to tell them on June 7 that I’d be moving out on July 1 – and I’ve heard nothing.
“It’s now mid-September so they’ve gone over the 90-day target that their website states and I still don’t know what’s happening.
‘How can it be so hard to calculate a bill?
“I called them and they said there’s a delay but they couldn’t say when it would be sorted out.
“How can it be so hard to calculate a bill?
“Some people will be due refunds for overpaying and others will be underpaying or paying nothing so it’s up to them to put money aside each month.
“That’s okay for some but, if you are struggling month to month, you might not have it.”
By comparison to Aberdeen City Council’s 90-day target, Aberdeenshire Council’s is 21 days.
Moray and Angus councils do not have targets.
Not only do the delays put pressure on household budgets, they also run the risk of people defaulting, which harms council coffers.
An Aberdeen City Council report published in January revealed 8,963 city residents fell so far behind with their council tax it was “deemed unrecoverable” – meaning the council had to write off £1.1m.
‘They must do better’
And that was just a year of unrecoverable debt.
Our investigation published last month revealed the council has written off £100m in total.
Councillor Brooks said: “I do think the SNP-led administration should give this the due attention it deserves.
“With the cost of living making it a challenging arena to move house, the last thing we need is extended administrative delays impacting both the citizens of Aberdeen and council revenue.”
The council has said automating some of their processing system might improve things.
Councillor Brooks added: “Does system automation mean we are less likely to speak to someone?
“Will this really speed things up or see more footfall in Marischal College from frustrated residents? I fear the latter.
“The administration really must do better”
‘A clear risk of worsening debt problems’
Debt charity StepChange wants the council to adopt a sympathetic approach to those who get into council-tax debt as a result of their processing delays.
StepChange head of communications Simon Trevethick said: “Council tax is a bill that many households find it difficult to keep up with, which has only been made worse by the increasing cost of living in recent years.
“Around a third of StepChange clients in Scotland are in arrears with their council tax.
“If households are potentially then facing many months’ worth of council tax in one go, there is a clear risk that this could lead to worsening debt problems.
“Local authorities can often be quick to pass council tax debt on to sheriff officers, which can be harmful to someone struggling financially.
“We would encourage all councils to ensure that they are taking an empathetic and understanding approach to council-tax collection, always endeavouring to support residents struggling with their finances, especially if they have additional vulnerabilities.
‘Extra resources will help timescales’
“If you are worried about council tax debt, contact a debt advice charity like StepChange who can offer free and impartial advice.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “Due to current demand, we are aware that the timescales for dealing with council tax changes are taking longer than normal.
“We have recently increased our resources and are working on further system automation to reduce these.”
He added: “Our original target was to process changes within 28 days, although currently we are working to an average of 90 days.
“Our additional resources will help improve timescales
“Demand is higher than normal due to increased moves across the city both in the social housing and private sectors.”