Almost 1,000 more people were called to court for failing to pay their council tax bills in the first six months after a controversial benefits shake-up.
The Government axed the national council tax benefit scheme in April and it was replaced by local support schemes, where the amount of council tax previous non-payers contribute varies by area.
More than £1million was cut from Braintree Council’s grant for council tax reductions in the same process.
As a result, working-age residents who previously avoided council tax now have to pay at least 20 per cent of the tax bill.
Some 7,490 households were affected by the change, which appears to have caused a sharp rise in the number of people failing to pay.
Between April and September, the first six months after the change, 4,727 people were summoned to court by Braintree Council for council tax arrears.
During the same period in 2012/13, that figure was 3,744.
The council was unable to disclose how many of those summoned had been affected by the benefits change, but in April alone almost half of those who had to pay for the first time had to be sent reminder letters.
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