An Allerdale councillor is calling for a review of council tax management after the authority failed to collect £2.5 million.

Conservative Colin Sharpe, who represents Dalton, submitted a notice of motion which will be discussed at the borough's council meeting tonight.

He said: "I would like to move the motion for a review of council tax management by overview and scrutiny and for a report to be presented to the executive.

"The Conservative group feels that Allerdale residents would be shocked to learn that, as at end July 2015, cumulative council tax arrears were circa £2.5m and, if left unchecked, the impact to the borough will continue to be to the detriment of public services.

"In the public sector, where there is a duty on authorities to collect council tax in support of public services, and particularly in context of central government wishing to drive more efficiency through local government, there has to be an imperative to manage all income streams appropriately. 

"Even though, as collection authority, Allerdale only keeps a proportion of council tax, the county, police and parish proportions are still crucially important allocations that in turn benefit the people of Allerdale."

He added that over £1.9m related to the immediate past four years of administration and that only around £1.5m was currently being sought under special collection measures.

Coun Sharpe said: "It is also crucial to ascertain the reasons why debtors may have circumstances that are making it difficult to pay council tax. 

"As a council we must ensure pursuit of the most effective route to recovering these outstanding sums and make regular updates on how the arrears are being managed perhaps through a revised policy but certainly via a tactical review plan that aims to expedite the collection processes."

A spokesman for Allerdale council said: "The figures quoted for arrears in council tax are for all previous years and amounts to about 0.3 per cent of the total amount originally billed. 

"The council’s collection rate is consistently above the national average.

"We work with individuals to make arrangements if they fall behind with the payments and ask anyone to speak to us first if they are facing financial difficulties.

"There are a number of ways we work to clear these arrears.

"These include attachment orders, which allow us to deduct the money from a person’s wages or benefits, and the use of bailiffs.

"We take this debt very seriously and will do everything we can to retrieve this money."