New analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has discovered that almost 430,000 people have missed a Council Tax payment in the last year after running out of money.
Polling by YouGov for the Scottish charity found that 32 per cent of people ran out of cash before payday and of those, 30 per cent missed a Council Tax payment as a result. Council Tax debt is the biggest debt issue the Citizens Advice network deals with each year.
The research defines ‘payday’ as including payment days for pensions and benefits and based on Scotland’s population estimates this works out to 426,000 people, according to CAS.
The figures come as a series of UK-wide changes puts increased pressure on household budgets across the country.
These include:
- Increased risk of unemployment or reduced incomes following the end of the furlough scheme
- Rising energy bills
- Universal Credit being reduced by £20 per week
- Rising prices in the shops
The charity is concerned that these additional pressures will lead to more people struggling to pay Council Tax over the coming months and recently launched the ‘Our Advice adds Up’ campaign encouraging people to seek advice to maximise their incomes, cut their cost of living and get help for Council Tax arrears.
Commenting on the findings, CAS Financial Health spokesperson Myles Fitt, said: “ Council Tax debt is the biggest debt issue the Citizens Advice network sees, and it’s concerning that so many people are missing payments because they have run out of money.
“The ending of furlough and other pandemic related financial support measures will have a significant impact on many but other emerging cost pressures are creating a perfect financial storm on household budgets this autumn, and there is real concern that more and more people will struggle to meet Council Tax payments as a result.”
People can get advice from the Citizens Advice network, or online through their public advice site here.
They can also visit Citizens Advice Scotland’s online Council Tax savings tool www.checkmycounciltax.scot to see if they are entitled to reduction, discounts or even exemptions on their bill.
Anyone looking for more general help with boosting incomes or making savings should try out the charity’s Money Map tool -find out more about it here.
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