Leader: Time for Shropshire Council to get tough and collect tax

Good news. Shropshire Council, which has had to squeeze, scrimp and save, has over £11 million up its sleeve.

Bad news. The money is in the form of uncollected council tax and business rates.

Imagine what that cash could be used for. Investing in education. Fixing roads. Improving the infrastructure of Shropshire.

Alas, the operative word in this case is – uncollected. People are getting away with not paying huge amounts that they owe to Shropshire.

The council's gloss on the matter is that collection rates have improved, and combined arrears have dropped by more than £2 million in a year.

Nevertheless, there is a huge pool of cash which is simply beyond the council's reach.

It is the sort of thing to make the blood boil of those who assiduously make sure they do not fall into debt.

These people are the council's easy money and if they do drag their feet, the council is quickly on their backs and they obligingly pay up.

These people feel they are being taken for mugs if they pay up reliably and on time while others take advantage of the system and, in some cases, will get away without paying anything at all.

That is what happened with the poll tax when colossal sums were simply written off.

There will be a multitude of reasons why people are not paying their dues.

Some may simply not have the money, in which case spending money chasing money that will not be forthcoming anyway is an expensive financial wild goose chase.

There are however a range of devices open to the council to claw money back into the public purse in most cases.

Times are tough.

The mantra that we are all in it together will ring hollow if some are paying their bills and some are not.