Dozens of politicians refuse to pay their council tax

Councillors who haven’t paid council tax and their names are a secret.

Dozens of Scots councillors have been threatened with legal action after failing to pay their council tax.

At least 36 elected politicians have fallen so far behind with payments that formal steps have been taken to recover the debt.

In some cases, councils have served summary warrants ordering them to hand over the cash and pay legal costs on top of their bill.

Despite this, there was anger last night after local authorities refused to name and shame the councillors or take any action against them apart from chasing unpaid debts.

They say revealing details would infringe their rights and the Data Protection Act.

Not paying council tax can result in people being chased by bailiffs, having money deducted straight from their earnings or even being jailed.

Last night, director of TaxpayerScotland Eben Wilson said the people who voted these shirkers into power will be “outraged”.

He blasted: “Any person who pays their council tax will consider this nothing short of cheating. Not only are they using services paid for by other people, as elected members they should be setting an example.

“How are the public supposed to trust them if they don’t pay their dues and are conning the system?

“It’s unacceptable their identities are being hidden. We must be given a power of recall in order they can be told they can’t stand for office again.”

We asked all 32 local authorities if any of their elected councillors had been the subject of legal action over their non-payment of council tax in the last financial year.

Twelve local authorities Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Moray, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire said they had.

Last week, Aberdeenshire Council leader Jim Gifford headed up plans to chase non-payers of poll tax from more than 25 years ago for money owed.

The council chief said at the time: “We don’t ever give up on the money we are owed. Any money we don’t get from people is being paid for by everyone else.”

Despite his tough rhetoric, our probe has revealed four Aberdeenshire councillors out of 77 were given official reminders for non-payment of their council tax in the last year. That bill equated to over £1,265.

Officials at 13 other councils Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Highlands, North Ayrshire, Orkney, Shetland, Stirling and West Lothian said no councillor had fallen into arrears.

Seven Scottish councils Scottish Borders, Dundee, Midlothian, Perth and Kinross, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and the Western Isles – either said they did not record the information or refused to tell us.

Under the Scottish Government code of conduct, councillors who are more than two months in arrears with council tax cannot participate in council tax issues. But they still get their allowance and perks of local office.

It means officials at the councils should know exactly who the elected offenders are but aren’t prepared to tell the public who they are.

Dr Chris Pounder, director of specialist FOI training company Amberhawk, said: “In general, councillors who don’t pay their council tax should expect their non-payment to be made public unless there is an overriding private interest that is the cause of any non-payment.

“There is both a legitimate interest in releasing the details and the question about arrears is not purely a private matter.”

Our probe discovered council tax dodgers included a Labour councillor at East Dunbartonshire Council who has been chased for £1,000 in unpaid tax over two years.

When we contacted the leader of the council and Labour politician Rhondda Geekie to tell us if she knew who the non-payer was she refused to name them but said: “I did know about this issue but I am also aware that the outstanding debt was paid at the start of the year.”

In Argyll and Bute, five councillors had official reminders issued last year with two independent councillors subject to summary warrant proceedings. That’s where sheriff officers for the court have been instructed to collect the debt.

The body that represents councils in Scotland, Cosla, refused to comment.

Last week, council chiefs admitted they are using the updated post referendum electoral register to chase up historic poll tax debts.

Report by Gordon Blackstock and Graham McKendry