THE amount of council tax and business rates which went uncollected in East Lindsey at the end of the last financial year was £1.68 million.

New data for the 2009/2010 financial year shows that the authority failed to collect £1,680,010 in council tax and business rates by March 31, the end of the financial year.

On these figures, East Lindsey was ranked the 15th worst authority in the East Midlands for its collection rate.

The authority, like others in the county, has been forced to look at chopping millions from their budgets because of the national debt crisis. The total of tax which went uncollected in Lincolnshire was £8.38 million.

In East Lindsey, £1.04 million went uncollected for council tax with the remaining £640,000 being from uncollected business rates which is then paid to the Government.

A spokesman from the authority said the figures can be misleading when used to compare against other authorities, because the total amount that each authority has to collect can differ significantly and a fairer test would be to judge the amount outstanding when compared with the "collectable debit" for that year.

The spokesman said East Lindsey is ranked 15th best for their overall collection of council tax and 20th for business rates against the collectable debt. He said: "We take our responsibility to collect council tax and business rates very seriously. We have a range of powers that we use and always follow a firm but fair process.

"We proactively pursue those who don't pay their council tax and business rates because it isn't fair to those who do."

He said that between April 1 and June 30 this year, East Lindsey collected a total of £468,000 against arrears council tax debt and £230,000 against arrears business rates debt in addition to amounts collected against 2010/11 debt.

Andy Worth, regional secretary for the East Midlands, said uncollected local taxes in 40 councils in the region amounted to more than £73.8 million in the past financial year.

He said: "This level of uncollected local taxes cannot be accepted at a time when there are deficits in the public finances, which are giving rise to cuts in public services and job losses at a time of high unemployment."

DATA for the amount of uncollected council tax/ non-domestic rates at collecting authorities in Lincolnshire, 2009-10.

Details in brackets of where the authority came in the top 40 for the East Midlands.

South Kesteven District Council – £2,030,000 (8th)

Boston Borough Council – £1,872,000 (12th)

East Lindsey District Council – £1,680,010 (15th)

South Holland District Council – £971,000 (27th)

City of Lincoln Council – £913,000 (31st)

West Lindsey District Council – £567,000 (37th)

North Kesteven District Council – £352,000 (39th)