Council tax collection rates

London has outstripped other areas of England in improving its council tax collection rates and closed the gap between the capital and the rest of the country, latest government figures show.

Overall, local authorities in England collected an average of 96.8 per cent of council tax due in the year 2005/06, up 0.2 of a percentage point on 2004/05. In London, however, the collection rate improved by 0.5 per cent to 94.9 per cent, and in inner London by 1 per cent to 93.9 per cent.

The London council with the best collection rate in 2005/06 was Richmond upon Thames (98.1 per cent). The council with the biggest improvement was Hackney (up 3.1 percent) although at 87.5 per cent Hackney's overall collection rate remains the lowest in the capital.

The graph below shows the percentage improvement by borough.  To view the actual collection rates by borough, open the Excel spreadsheet at the bottom of this page.