Labour soft on tax evasion

7.48.25pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 23rd Sep 2006

Labour has gone soft on council tax evasion says Lib Dem Cllr Paul Webbewood (Middle Park & Sutcliffe). Greenwich council only collected 93.2% of the tax due last year (2005/06) which is 0.5% less than the previous year. This poor performance means that the council has failed to collect around £5million this year.

"Greenwich has one of the worst collection rates in London," says Cllr Paul Webbewood. "This year Greenwich's performance is even worse."

"Failing to collect the council tax due means that there will be a hole in the council's finances. The only way to fill that will be to raise next year's tax. Honest taxpayers will be forced to pay more to make up for Labour's failure to crack down on tax evasion."

"The Liberal Democrats made improving council tax collection a priority in our manifesto for the council elections. It's a shame that Labour doesn't think it's important."