Council Tax Enforcement Action in Penrith Area More Than Doubled Last Year

The number of council tax liability orders leading to enforcement action in the Penrith and wider Eden area has more than doubled in the last year, according to new figures obtained from Westmorland and Furness Council.

A Liability Order is a legal demand for payment granted by a Magistrates’ Court, giving the council the power to recover unpaid council tax once reminder notices and final demands have been ignored.

The number of Liability Orders for failure to pay council tax passed by Westmorland and Furness Council to Enforcement Agencies between 2021 and the start of the current financial year reveals that enforcement action was taken against 510 households in the Penrith and Eden area this year — up sharply from 212 the year before.

The council states that, as the authority responsible for collecting council tax, it will take recovery action where required to ensure bills are paid in full.

The council says that “If, on the date of the hearing we do not receive payment in full, we will attend the Court to present our case. We will have to prove that we followed all necessary procedures.”

Despite the increase in Penrith and Eden’s figures the area still remains significantly lower than other parts of the Westmorland and Furness district. In the last financial year, enforcement action was taken against 1,779 households in the Kendal area and 2,762 in the Barrow area for failure to pay their 2024/25 council tax.

Annual Enforcement Figures

Penrith 

2021/22 – 233

2022/23 – 217

2023/24 – 212

2024/25 – 510

Kendal

2021/22 – 1,237

2022/23 – 2,022

2023/24 – 1,252

2024/25 – 1,779

Barrow

2021/22 – 2,633

2022/23 – 2,199

2023/24 – 3,164

2024/25 – 2,762

Westmorland and Furness Council is currently preparing its budget and council tax arrangements for the next financial year with a consultation on the proposed budget expected to be launched late December.

Another maximum increase in council tax without the need for the council to hold a referendum on increases is forecast to once again be heading for households across Westmorland and Furness as the council works to fill a multi-million pound black hole in the councils budget for this year that is expected to top more than £10 million by the end of the year.