Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following information regarding Wokingham Borough Council’s tax arrears for the financial years 2020-2021 to 2024-2025:

1. Council Tax Arrears – Residents
For each financial year from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025:
a) The total number of residents liable for council tax in Wokingham Borough.
2020/21: 70,810
2021/22: 72,206
2022/23: 73,136
2023/24: 74,003
2024/25: 74,902
Note, the above numbers relate to the total number of dwellings recorded on the CTB1 form to government each year rather than the number of residents liable.
b) The number of residents in council tax arrears.
2020/21: 1,985
2021/22: 2,800
2022/23: 2,674
2023/24: 2,650
2024/25: 2,918
Note, the above numbers relate to the total liability orders granted in respect of outstanding Council Tax for each of these financial years.
c) The percentage of residents in council tax arrears relative to the total number of liable residents.
2020/21: 2.8%
2021/22: 3.88%
2022/23: 3.66%
2023/24: 3.58%
2024/25: 3.89%
d) Any reports or analyses produced by the council on trends in council tax arrears over this period, including reasons for non-payment (if recorded).
This is not available

2. Council Tax Arrears – Council Staff
a) A list of all council staff (anonymized, e.g., by employee ID or role category) with council tax arrears for each financial year from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025, including:
This data will not be released
b) The total number of staff per year
The dataset only includes current employees – a total of 1,451
c) The number of staff in arrears per year.
2020/21: 2
2021/22: 2
2022/23: 4
2023/24: 3
2024/25: 4
d) The total amount of arrears owed by staff per year.
2020/21: £1,699.27
2021/22: £3,008.01
2022/23: £4,897.24
2023/24: £4,045.70
2024/25: £8,097.29
e) The percentage of staff in council tax arrears relative to the total number of staff.
2020/21: 0.14%
2021/22: 0.14%
2022/23: 0.27% 2023/24 – 0.21%
2024/25: 0.27%
f) Number of staff woth exemptions or special arrangements offered to staff regarding liability and those in arrears.
All staff with outstanding liability have had opportunities for arrangements. Where required, other recovery action may have been taken to recover the debt.
g) Details of the steps taken by the council to address council tax arrears among its staff, including:
Policies or procedures for recovering arrears from employees (e.g., payment plans, deductions from salaries).
Arrangements, attachment of earnings or enforcement agent action if not previously aware of employment details
h) Any disciplinary actions taken against staff for non-payment of council tax, including the number of cases per year and the nature of the actions (e.g., warnings, suspensions, or terminations).
None