Of the old unpaid council tax a council started the year with, this is the share it actually managed to collect during the year. It shows how good the council is at chasing debts that have already gone late, not just sending out this year's bills. High means old debts really do get recovered; low means once a bill goes unpaid, it tends to stay unpaid.
| name | arrears_recovery_rate |
|---|---|
| dataset | 03-council-tax-collection |
| kind | constructed |
| type | numeric |
| unit | ratio |
| grain | billing authority |
| role | feature |
| source | formula: (ct_old_arrears_collected cols 20 + 21) / ct_arrears_bfwd (Table_9a cols 20, 21, 17) |
| period | 2024-25 financial year |
| missingness | understated where col 20 is a reported 0 ([note a]); otherwise unknown |
| score_note | Direct debt-chasing effort measure, but note a zeros in col 20 understate it for some councils. |
| peer_group | council class (district / county / unitary / metropolitan / London) — not yet scored on the leaderboard |
The share of opening arrears actually recovered during the year — a direct measure of debt-chasing effort, not just billing. Higher values mean the council actively converts old debt into cash. Caveat [note a]: understated where col 20 is a reported 0 because the split was unavailable.