Interesting to compare Labour-run Salford with Conservative-run Trafford...

Salford Labour wrote off £3.2 million.

Trafford Tories wrote off less than £30,000.

   IF SALFORD can write off all this money,then it proves that they are not capable of the job that they are being paid for, and under the Freedom of Information act, we as responsible tax payers can ask for a true statement of the running of the city finance and is leaders and staff expences,Now that Will be interesting to find out where the money go'es

   All I can add to this is ......

RICHARD, YOU ARE SO RIGHT !!!!!

I JUST WISH SOMEONE OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING WAS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY !!!!

Regards

Dennis

   How would I collect unpaid council taxes without it becoming financially unviable? Do I think the council took the decision to write off £3.2 million lightly?

I've no doubt the decision to write off £3.2 million by Salford Labour was indeed taken very casually. First of all it's a gift to Labour's 'client voting class' of institutionalised welfare dependants.

Secondly it's a decision befitting of the public sector/Labour culture of poor financial administration in which because the public sector can get away with wasting money by the barrowload it does (in contrast to the real world survival issues of many private sector concerns).

Thirdly it demonstrates Salford Labour's arrogant contempt for the electorate: Salford Labour believes it is electorally unassailable and therefore thinks it can get away with absolutely anything... in this context writing off £3.2 million is a trivial matter to Salford Labour (and they'll just crank up the tax to those who do pay in the future anyway).

Debt Collection Carvath style? Well now let me see...

The first point is that I would go easy on the significant minority of non-payers that don't pay because they genuinely - through no fault of their own - can't pay or are genuinely struggling to pay. I'm talking about the growing band of pensioners on fixed incomes who've had their pensions raped by Gordon Brown at the same time as Labour council taxes rise extortionately and inexorably above the rate of inflation. I would not be jailing such victims of Labour policy created poverty!

As for the majority of non-payers that are just trying to get away with it...

I note that private companies are rather more effective at debt-collecting than Salford Council. Perhaps you should study how they do it.

I suggest the Council should evict from social housing those who persistently dodge payment [subject to exceptions like the genuinely impoverished pensioners aforementioned]... the council should evict the layabouts and the scallies (whose money is coming entirely from the taxpayers' purse anyway - and from crime/black economy) who are just avoiding payment because they know they can (because Salford Labour is weak at collection) and once evicted such people should not be able to get back into social housing until they settle their old debt. Furthermore debt could be collected at source from such people's various benefits payments.

Banks and building societies do not mess about when a debtor has missed a string of mortgage repayments. It's very simple (and perhaps harsh - but that's the real world)... a bad debtor's home is repossessed and that person is out.

If social housing residents knew that persistent non-payment of Council Tax meant no home - no home in Salford, no home from any other council in the country - I think you'd find that they'd pay up... just like the hardworking, taxpaying majority who know they can't get away with not paying their bills (unlike the welfare dependants they fund).

So much of this all goes back to the issue of Labour indulging welfare dependant client voters. It really does.

It is NOT compassionate to write off their debt; it is actually cruel. Indulging such people just perpetuates their misery and reinforces their dependency on the state. It is tragic to see these millions of wasted lives, to see people literally rotting away because of welfarism. But Labour will continue to write off their council tax debts so long as it keeps them in power.

P.S. Regarding Polish 'plumbers', Bulgarian 'builders' and others from EU countries... because it's so easy for this army of migrants to descend on our country, take advantage of social housing (and everything else) and then bugger off back to Poland without paying their council tax... it might be a sensible idea to put such people at the bottom of the waiting lists (below British citizens) and also make them pay their first year's council tax in advance. I don't think that's unreasonable.

   What would YOU do Richard and how would YOU collect the unpaid council taxes without it becoming financially unviable? Do you think that the Council took the decision to write of this sum of money lightly?

   I live in salford and pay over £120.00 a month in council tax, and it really annoys me when every year salford council write off unpaid council tax and rent. It was only a few months ago they spent over 160k on a company to advise them how to save money!!!!! The sad thing is that labour will get voted in again as the working people of salford are now a minority, the people who milk the system will be happy to continue to vote labour as long as the benefits keep coming, do you really think they give a toss about thinks like congestion charging when if wont affect them. Also the council says it will cost to much money to collect the unpaid money, i do not understand how that is, surley the costs of recovery should be added onto the money owed, isnt that what bailiffs are for? USE YOUR VOTE ON MAY 1ST GET RID OF THEM!!

   Yet more waste from the Labour council. What a surprise.

   Every decent, hardworking taxpayer in Salford will be appalled by Salford Labour's abysmal record for non-collection of council tax.

Salford Labour are letting their 'client voter' scallies off lightly in key wards. There are some dirty deeds going on here, that's for sure.

Imagine what good use £3.2 million could've been put to.

Salford Labour are laughing at the majority of hardworking taxpaying Salfordians as Labour indulge themselves and serve their own ends.

Voters need to send Labour a clear message at the ballot box on 1st May. And don't forget to vote accordingly if you want to save St. George's High School and the Salford Royal [Hope] maternity unit too.