Reform UK councillor in row over tax arrears

NORTHUMBERLAND councillor owing tens of thousands of pounds to his own authority has publicly clashed with the council's top lawyer.

- JAMES ROBINSON

Reform UK councillor Barry Elliott rowed with Northumberland County Council monitoring officer Stephen Gerrard over the former's arrears at a public meeting last week.

It comes after Coun Elliott was told to pay almost £40,000 worth of debts to the county council following a court appearance in November. The dispute relates to business rates and council tax arrears to Northumberland County Council, dating between 2020 and 2025 - although Coun Elliott has insisted that some of the council’s figures were “totally wrong”.

A total of £28,539 of the debts relate to business rates, with the remainder of around £10,000 being unpaid council tax. Under the Local Government Finance Act, council-lors are prevented from voting on matters around council tax if they have council tax arrears unpaid for two months or more.

Wednesday's full council meeting saw a debate on the council's new council tax support scheme and the setting of the council tax base for the coming year, sparking the latest clash between Coun Elliott and County Hall officials.