OUTSTANDING council tax owed in Gwent currently stands at more than £16 million, figures released by the Welsh Government show.

A total of £16,730,000 in council tax is currently being chased by Gwent councils, including Caerphilly, which has the highest amount of outstanding council tax at £3,984,000.

Torfaen has the least amount of outstanding council tax, with £2,090,000 owed.

In Monmouthshire £3,748,000 is owed in outstanding council tax, while in Blaenau Gwent it is £3,580,000. In Newport, it is £3,328,000.

This figure is for what is owed from the last financial year, as well as outstanding amounts from previous years.

The figures also show that the total amount of writtenoff council tax in Gwent currently stands at £1,192,000.

In Blaenau Gwent £315,000 has been written off, in Caerphilly it is £272,000, in Monmouthshire it is £207,000, in Newport it is £271,000 and in Torfaen it is £127,000.

Councils do everything they can to reclaim the money.

When repayments cannot be agreed they have the power to make compulsory attachments to benefits or earnings.

Reasons for writing off council tax can include bankruptcy or death.

Shadow minister for local government Janet Finch- Saunders, AM, said: “It is grossly unfair that families in Wales are facing higher council tax bills to subsidise the minority who refuse to pay their share.

“In challenging economic times councils should be working harder to collect unpaid taxes to limit increases in bills for hard-working and law-abiding taxpayers.”