Cheshire East is owed a whopping £23 million in unpaid council tax.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service from a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) reveal £23,248,962 is still owed.

The figure accounts for the years since the local authority was founded in 2009 to the end of the last financial year in April 2021.

Covid also hit the council coffers – with an extra £1.7 million unpaid in 2020/21 compared to the previous year.

Cllr Amanda Stott (Bollington, Ind), chair of finance at Cheshire East Council, said: “The amount of outstanding council tax carried forward from March 31, 2021, was £23 million, which represents approximately 0.9 per cent of the total council tax billed by Cheshire East over 11 years of £2.7 billion.

“The council’s collection rate of more than 99 per cent compares favourably with other unitary authorities, with Cheshire East placed highly for its collection performance.”

She continued: “It is normal for a further one per cent to be collected over the following two years. The amount carried forward, taken as an annual debit, is eight per cent, compared with a 14 per cent average for other unitary authorities.”

Regarding the latest figures, which show that £8,630,525 was unpaid for 2020/21, compared to £6,917,134 for the year 2019/20, Cllr Stott said: “The council tax year 2020/21 was an exceptional year with the council supporting residents financially impacted by Covid by allowing payment of council tax to be deferred and by postponing formal debt recovery action.

“Our debt recovery rate for that year was lower at 97.39 per cent.”

She added: “As the economy recovers, the council has refocussed its debt recovery activity, while ensuring the most vulnerable residents continue to be protected. The council expects to see more than £11 million of arrears targeted for further recovery action.”