Non payment of precept

Question

Just a thought that came to me, was wondering what would happen in this hyperthetical situation.

I understand that PC precepts are collected at the same time as your council tax (for efficiency reasons), but are not actually part of the council tax. If you don't pay your council tax the big council has powers to make you pay this.

If you council tax was £1,000 and your PC precept £20, but you paid only £1,000 (and made it clear you were paying the council tax and not the precept), who's responsibility would it be to chase that £20 debt? Is it still the big councils job?, would the PC have to do it?, and do they have any powers above what anyone else has in relation to unpaid debts?

Answer 1

In what way is the precept not part of the council tax total?  I have not heard about this separation - would it be the same as the amount due to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner or social services?

Comments

As far as i understand it (and i could be wrong), the PC precept and Police, Fire etc precepts are all seperate. They all get added onto your council tax bill and collected at the same time for efficiency. So whilst they are part of the total on the bill you get from the council they are not actually part of the council tax element of that bill.

Answer 2

To cut to the chase. The relevant district/unitary council is responsible for collecting the money (including the various precepts anmounts) and recovering any debts due to non-payment.

Comments

So in a hypothetical situation where the PC impose a precept that results in a £1,000,000 charge for a property (which in theory they could, as there is  no limit to the rise they can implement),  the tax payer would have to pay it or the main council would be obligated to chase them for it?

Does the main council have any powers to push back on the sums PC's are requesting? The external auditor would not get a look at this until after the bills have gone out.

---

My understanding is ... hypothetically:

1. Yes the tax payer would be required to pay it
2. Yes the district/unitary council would be required to pursue it as a debt
3. No, the district/unitary would not have any powers to 'push back'.

That said, I am not setting myself up as an expert.  Why not ask the 'main' council for a definitive answer.

---

Too hypothetical a question to waste their time with (and unlikely to get an answer). Just curious.
Although there are probably real examples where PC's have raised the precept unreasonably high (but not £1,000,000 hopefully) and it seems there is nothing you can do but pay up this year and try and oust the council before they try the same the next year.

---

Whilst district and county councils are subject to capping on their precepts, other authorities aren't, sometimes resulting in inflation-busting precept increases. One mayoral authority raised its slice of the pot by 200% last year.

---

Looking at the national data for town and parish councils, Taunton TC tops the league table for largest increase, boosting its precept from £2.1 million to £5.9 million, or 173%. In percentage terms, that's dwarfed by Waverley in Rotherham at 354.48%. There were 10 increases in excess of 100% last year.

Answer 3

Great question! Love it…

Increased Civil disobedience is the only natural outcome from this absolutely shambolic Labour ‘government.’

Comments

Sorry, but what has that got to do with the OPs question?

---

The title for the thread is Non payment of precept - that would be a form of civil disobedience.
The shambolic Labour government have missed the opportunity to impose control of town and parish tax:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-finance-policy-statement-2025-to-2026/local-government-finance-policy-statement-2025-to-2026

It should be self explanatory…