Per-council variables this dataset yields for describing/scoring a billing authority's collection efficiency. All per-authority figures come from data/Table_9_QRC4_2024-25.ods (sheet Table_9a, council tax; sheet Table_9b is the NNDR mirror), data/Table_9_QRC4_2023-24_revised.ods (same layout, prior year), and data/Table_6_2024-25.ods (sheet Table_6a, two-year rate comparison). Header row is row 4 of each sheet; rows above authority rows are England/class/region aggregates. Monetary columns are £ thousand. Column indices below are 0-based positions verified in the files.
Join keys (all files): Authority (col 0), E-Code (col 1), ONS Code (col 2), Class (col 3 — e.g. SD, UA, MD, ILB/OLB; usable as peer group), Region (col 4).
| Variable | File / sheet / column | Unit | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
ct_collectable_debit |
Table_9_QRC4_2024-25.ods / Table_9a / col 5 "1. Estimated net collectable debit in respect of 2024-25" | £000 | Council tax the authority was due to collect in-year — the size of its collection task. |
ct_receipts_inyear |
Table_9a / col 8 "4. Total 2024-25 receipts, net of refunds" | £000 | What it actually collected of that year's tax by 31 March. |
ct_collection_rate |
Table_9a / col 9 "5. In-year collection rate for 2024-25 (%)" | % | Headline efficiency measure: share of billed council tax collected in-year. |
ct_prior_year_receipts |
Table_9a / col 10 "6. Estimated receipts of previous years council taxes received in 2024-25" | £000 | Arrears cash recovered this year — active chasing of old debt. |
ct_receipts_q1..q4 |
Table_9a / cols 13–16 "9.–12. Receipts collected between …" | £000 | Quarterly collection profile; heavy Q4 skew signals late collection. |
ct_arrears_bfwd |
Table_9a / col 17 "13. Arrears for 2023-24 and earlier years brought forward on 1 April 2024" | £000 | Opening arrears stock inherited from prior years. |
ct_old_arrears_collected |
Table_9a / cols 20–21 "16./17. Amount of arrears … collected in 2024-25" | £000 | Old-debt recovery split (2022-23-and-earlier vs 2023-24 only); col 20 can be a reported 0 where the split was unavailable ([note a]). |
ct_writeoffs |
Table_9a / cols 22–23 & 28 (lines 18, 19, 22 — write-offs of earlier years, of 2023-24, and of 2024-25 debt; line 18's header text is truncated in the file but the column is present) | £000 | Debt formally abandoned in-year. |
ct_arrears_stock |
Table_9a / col 30 "24. Total Arrears outstanding as at 31 March 2025" | £000 | Closing total arrears — the accumulated uncollected pile. |
ct_uncollected_inyear |
Table_9a / col 27 "21. Amounts uncollected in 2024-25" | £000 | New arrears generated this year (before write-offs). |
ct_court_admin_costs |
Table_9a / col 31 "25. Court and administration costs" | £000 | Enforcement cost added to taxpayer accounts; may be under-reported ([note b]). |
ct_collection_rate_prev |
Table_6_2024-25.ods / Table_6a / col 7 "Amount collected by 31 March 2024 as a percentage of amount collectable 2023-24 (%)" (2022-23 value likewise in Table_6_2023-24_revised.ods) | % | Prior-year rate on the same basis, for trend. |
nndr_collection_rate |
Table_9_QRC4_2024-25.ods / Table_9b / col 9 (same layout as 9a) | % | Business-rates analogue; a council weak on both is systemically weak at collection. |
nndr_arrears_stock |
Table_9b / col 30 | £000 | Business-rates arrears at 31 March 2025. |
Prior-year (2023-24) values of every Table_9a/9b variable: same columns in Table_9_QRC4_2023-24_revised.ods.
| Variable | Formula | Inputs | Unit | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
collection_rate_gap_class |
ct_collection_rate − mean of ct_collection_rate over authorities with same Class |
Table_9a cols 3, 9 | pp | How far the council under/over-performs its structural peer group (districts vs mets vs London etc.), the main like-for-like efficiency score. |
collection_rate_trend |
ct_collection_rate (2024-25) − ct_collection_rate_prev (2023-24), extendable back with Table_6 2023-24 revised |
Table_6a cols 7, 10 across both editions | pp/yr | Improving or deteriorating collection performance. |
arrears_intensity |
ct_arrears_stock / ct_collectable_debit |
Table_9a cols 30, 5 | ratio | Arrears stock as a share of one year's billing — normalises the pile by council size; high values mean years of accumulated failure. |
arrears_growth |
(ct_arrears_stock 2024-25 − ct_arrears_stock 2023-24) / ct_arrears_stock 2023-24 |
Table_9a col 30 in both years' files | %/yr | Whether the uncollected pile is growing or being worked down. |
arrears_recovery_rate |
(cols 20 + 21) / ct_arrears_bfwd |
Table_9a cols 20, 21, 17 | ratio | Share of opening arrears actually recovered in-year — measures debt-chasing effort, not just billing. Understated where col 20 is a reported 0 ([note a]). |
writeoff_rate |
(lines 18 + 19 + 22, cols 22, 23, 28) / (ct_arrears_bfwd + ct_collectable_debit) |
Table_9a | ratio | Propensity to give up on debt rather than collect it. |
q4_collection_share |
col 16 / ct_receipts_inyear |
Table_9a cols 16, 8 | ratio | Back-loading of cash; compare within class since instalment profiles are similar. |
arrears_per_capita |
ct_arrears_stock × 1000 / population |
Table_9a col 30; population from sibling dataset 12-wastedataflow (Q001 population in Waste_Collection_data_England_2024-25.csv, joined on authority) |
£/person | Size-normalised arrears burden comparable across all councils. (A dwellings denominator would be preferable but no sibling dataset 01–12 carries a verified dwellings count.) |
enforcement_cost_intensity |
ct_court_admin_costs / ct_receipts_inyear |
Table_9a cols 31, 8 | ratio | Reliance on court enforcement per pound collected; caveat [note b] under-reporting. |
dual_collection_gap |
(100 − ct_collection_rate) + (100 − nndr_collection_rate) |
Table_9a col 9, Table_9b col 9 | pp | Combined leakage across both tax streams; robust to one-off quirks in either. |
Peer comparison uses the Class column as the comparator group (CIPFA nearest-neighbour lists are not present in datasets 01–12, so class/region is the verified alternative).
Caveats inherited from SOURCE.md apply: in-year rate understates ultimate collection; council tax support schemes affect the collectable base; authority list changes across years under reorganisation.
One file per variable in variables/:
ct_collectable_debitct_receipts_inyearct_collection_ratect_prior_year_receiptsct_receipts_q1..q4ct_arrears_bfwdct_old_arrears_collectedct_writeoffsct_arrears_stockct_uncollected_inyearct_court_admin_costsct_collection_rate_prevnndr_collection_ratenndr_arrears_stock