Forget the debt

Greens propose shortening the 20-year limit to help vulnerable families get lives back on track

- BY JOHN FERGUSON

HUNDREDS of millions in council tax debts could be written off under a proposals to be voted on by MSPs, the Sunday Mail can reveal.

Almost £2billion of arrears have been racked up by Scottish households since the council tax system was introduced in 1993.

But a huge percentage of that could now be axed as a result of an amendment to the Housing Bill by Greens MSP Ross Greer.

The change would reduce the time limit for council tax arrears, at which point the debt is written off and collection efforts stopped The current limit for Scottish council tax debt is 20 years despite English, Welsh and Northern Irish council tax debt being written off after six years

Greer said: "We need to break the decadesold cycle of poverty and debt. Scotland's system for collecting council tax debts is far harsher than those in the rest of the UK and that needs to end.