Hounslow Has Lost Over £27m In Uncollected Taxes Since 1996

12.00.00am GMT Sat 8th Nov 2003

Liberal Democrat Prospective GLA Candidate, Dee Doocey

Dee Doocey, Liberal Democrat London South West Candidate for the GLA has revealed that Hounslow Council has lost £27 million in uncollected Council Tax since 1996

Dee said, "those who pay have been subsidising those who avoid the tax. It is scandalous that inaccurate council records, tax dodging, and the complicated bureaucracy of collecting Council Tax have resulted in such huge sums of money not being available to spend on local services."

"Council Tax was unfair when the Conservatives invented it, after their failed Poll Tax, and Labour's underfunding of councils has made it worse. If you look at the proportion of income spent on Council Tax, the poorest pensioners pay nearly SIX times more for Council Tax than the richest non-pensioners. How can this be justified?"

"Millions of pounds do not get collected, often leaving the poorest households to foot the bill. Those who pay, pay more, or have their services cut instead."

We must replace Council Tax with a tax related to people's ability to pay. Scrapping council tax would save hundreds of millions in bureaucracy and stop people cheating the system".