NEARLY 11,000 people claiming a reduction in their council tax bill risk falling into arrears as the way they pay is not sustainable in the long term, a Bradford Council report warns.

A third of the 31,800 working age households in the district who receive up to 75 per cent relief on their council tax pay the remainder by a direct reduction in their benefit.

But as council tax is going up by 1.6 per cent from this month, it pushes the average weekly amount owed past the nationally-set maximum for deductions, leading to fears of an increase in the amount of council tax arrears in the future.

This is on top of the current level of council tax arrears which now stands at £27 million.

The leader of Bradford Council, Councillor David Green, said some people elect to have the money taken directly from their benefits, while others are forced down that route as they get into arrears.

"The amount that we can take off benefits through deduction is set by the national Government. What we need, if the system is going to continue, is a recognition by Government - as it was national Government that introduced the system that people on benefit need to pay an element of council tax - and they need to deal with some of the anomalies that this produces.

"We want to work with individuals to try to ensure they don't get into arrears in the first place and find the best way for them. We work very hard, particularly with people starting to get into difficulties, and have extended the number of places where people can pay their council tax.

"People are struggling, whether it's because that are in a low income job and reliant on benefits, or unemployed and reliant on benefits."

Martin Stubbs, the Council's assistant director of revenues, benefits and payroll, warns members of the authority's corporate overview and scrutiny committee: "If council tax increases on an annual basis, and the amount the Council can deduct from benefits does not, this will become unsustainable and an alternative method of collection will be needed.

"On average the difference between a full council tax bill and one for someone receiving council tax reduction is £3.60 a week and the maximum amount that can be deducted from benefit is £3.65. This shows that, for this year, attaching benefit is an effective tool to deal with non-payment.

"However, given the council tax increase for 2015/16 will take the average difference up to £3.66 per week, this means the arrears position will start to deteriorate in the future."

Options that could be considered are taking a firmer approach with low-income debtors, working with partners to help those on a low income manage a limited budget, or whether to continue to increase council tax for those low-income working-age families at the same rate as everyone else.

The report, which will be discussed by members of the committee on Thursday, also shows that the number of households claiming a reduction in their council tax bill has fallen in all but one ward in the district since the new scheme was introduced two years ago.

When the scheme was introduced in April 2013, the number of households entitled to a reduction was 56,538 across the district, of which 35,022 were of working age and 21,516 were pensioners.

But at the end of February this year, this figure had reduced to 51,243 with 31,843 working age and 19,400 pensioners.

The biggest reduction, of 18 per cent, is in the Worth Valley ward, followed by Bingley (17.2) and Baildon (16.4).

Overall this is a 9.1 per cent decrease, but there is only one ward - Thornton and Allerton - where the number of working age people claiming has increased, by 1.4 per cent between the two dates.

The report adds that an increase in employment is the main reason that fewer working age people are claiming the reduction.

Changes to the council tax benefit system took effect from April 2013 and involved reducing the maximum reduction for working age adults. Pensioners were protected from the cuts, but others, such as the unemployed, disabled and families on low incomes, now have to pay up to 25 per cent more.

The scrapping of the up to 100 per cent discount came amid cuts of ten per cent to the amount the authority received from the Government in council tax support, which at the time amounted to more than £4 million.

About 27,000 people, who had previously received a full discount, were then sent a bill with an amount to pay for the first time.