Council chasing more than £860,000 in council tax arrears from own staff

East Lothian Council is chasing more than £860,000 in unpaid council tax from its own employees, with nearly a quarter of it arrears from last year alone.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that council workers owe £189,661 in unpaid council tax for last year despite the fact they could face disciplinary action for failing to meet the payments.

And it reveals that outstanding amounts still being chased over the last decade stand at £860,000 with more than £11,500 outstanding from 2015/16.

The council said that the figures were based on people being identified as council workers at the time the report was put together but says some employees could have built up arrears before they joined the local authority.

It staff arrears on record includes £150, 587 which remains unpaid from 2024/25 while £122, 054 in arrears remains for 2023/24.

The local authority is one of the biggest employers in the county with 4,500 workers. It faced a £2.7m budget gap at the start of this financial year when it put up council tax by 7.5%.

The council says the amounts still outstanding changes daily with ongoing work to recoup losses from the last decade and beyond.

And it revealed that overall council tax arrears for financial year 2025/26 from all residents stands at £4,491,747.46.

Income from the tax makes up 25% of the council’s funding for the year with the rest coming from Scottish Government. The increase of seven per cent means this year council tax is expected to bring in

In addition to the outstanding arrears the local authority wrote off £99,000 in unpaid council tax over the same ten years. Write offs are approved where there is no likelihood of the debt ever being repaid and the council said staff were treated as any other residents would be when it came to removing such debt.

Last year the council wrote off £15,675 in council tax arrears owed by employees compared to over £402,000 owed by other residents.

A council spokesperson said: “Council employees are treated in the same way as any other East Lothian resident and subject to the same recovery procedures. When no payment is received we will issue reminders, final notices and summary warrant notices. They are also signposted to the same financial support and welfare advice as our other customers.

“That being said, failure to pay arrears in full or to make an effective repayment arrangement with the council tax team will be regarded as misconduct and may result in disciplinary action being taken.

“This is outlined in our disciplinary code which applies to all employees and highlighted to them at each recovery stage.

“We encourage anyone who has fallen behind or struggling to manage council tax payments to get in touch as soon as possible. Our teams will make sure people are receiving any discount or exemption they may be entitled to or discuss arrangements to spread payments over a longer period of time.”