More than 25,000 Blackpool households struggling to pay council tax as GMB calls system 'broken'
‘This can’t be the right way to do business.’
More than 25,000 Blackpool households are struggling to pay their council tax, according to a new investigation.
Blackpool Council is owed more than £32m in unpaid council tax debt, with over 15,000 residents summoned to court over outstanding payments in 2025/26, according to data collected by the GMB Union.
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According to the GMB, freedom of information requests were submitted to all local authorities in Britain with responsibility for collecting council tax, with almost 200 replying within the statutory deadline.
The results showed that the total amount owed to Blackpool Council in unpaid council tax stood as a whopping £32,246,001.91 and that 25,388 Blackpool council tax accounts are in arrears.
In response to these figures, Blackpool Council said: “As of March 2026, Blackpool Council was owed £32,246,001.91 in unpaid council tax. Of this, £9.9m was from that financial year, while the remaining £22.3m was from previous years.
During the previous financial year, we collected £92.6m council tax from 72,600 properties, on behalf of Blackpool Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, and the Lancashire Combined Fire Authority.
“This represented a 90% collection rate. The recovery of council tax continues long after the year-end, typically reaching 95% after several years.”
The information also showed that 24,979 accounts have had debt management proceedings launched against them and 15,671 people in Blackpool had been summoned to court in the financial year 2024/25.
With regards to the number of people summoned to court, Blackpool Council said: “This is the number of summonses issued within the requested year, regardless of which year the arrears relate to.
“Additionally, where there is more than one person liable for council tax in a household, each named liable will be issued a summons resulting in more than one summons being issued per account.”
The results also showed that some £11,992,970 is owed to Wyre council in unpaid council tax.
‘Our council tax system is completely broken’
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “These horrifying figures show our council tax system is completely broken. Not only is the banding system woefully out of date, but forcing cash-strapped councils to pursue 175,000 people through the courts just to make ends meet can’t be the right way to do business.
“Austerity left deep scars on all our public services, which will last a generation or more. Meanwhile the lack of authority funding often means low pay for the people we rely on to look after our loved ones, to take our rubbish, to keep our towns and cities running.
“To fix all this, we need more guaranteed central government funding, progress on council tax reform so the richest pay their share and changes to Business Rates so that authorities get more regenerate our high streets.”
‘Lowest average council tax in Lancashire’
Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Blackpool currently has the lowest average council tax in Lancashire, at £1,104. As a council, we will always ensure there is support available for those in real need.
“More than 32,000 homes already get a discount of some form, whether it is because they are vulnerable, on a low income, are carers, or live alone. If people are struggling to keep up with their council tax payments, there are a number of schemes in place to support households long before enforcement action becomes necessary.
“We take a firm but fair approach to debt recovery. For instance, where someone has an empty property and does not pay the correct amount of council tax, we will take action. When people don’t pay council tax, that is unfair on those that do pay and contribute to funding services and resources that benefit the whole community.”
Blackpool Council tax bandings
Standard property valuation bands for Blackpool are:
- Band A: £1,675.48
- Band B: £1,954.73
- Band C: £2,233.97
- Band D: £2,513.22
- Band E: £3,071.71
- Band F: £3,630.21
- Band G: £4,188.70
- Band H: £5,026.44
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This means that the total amount of council tax debt owed to Blackpool Council is the equivalent of up to 19,245 Band A homes’ annual council tax bill.
The GMB say that the findings will be discussed as part of a Local Government special report, which will be delivered to GMB’s annual congress in Blackpool on Tuesday June 9.