PEOPLE in Brighton and Hove are almost £5 million behind with their council tax payments, councillors have been told.

Businesses are also expected to owe more than £7 million in rates by the end of the financial year in March.

The level of arrears was said to be higher than normal, largely due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Much of the money – which goes into the “collection fund” – was due to help pay for services run by Brighton and Hove City Council.

But a sizeable share would also go towards funding the policing and the fire service.

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The council’s acting finance chief Nigel Manvell said more people were eligible for help with their bills or qualified for exemptions because of losing their jobs due to the pandemic.

He told the council’s Policy and Resources Committee that more firms were going out of business, leaving properties empty.

All these factors left the council facing an £11 million shortfall from council tax and business rates.

This comes at a time when the council is wrestling with higher spending due to the pandemic.

Mr Manvell told the meeting on Thursday that the government had announced a further £4.7 million in emergency funding for the council, helping to plug the “budget gap” in Brighton and Hove.

When he last briefed the Policy and Resources Committee on the council’s financial position, it was facing a shortfall of at least £8 million.

Since then, the government cash and lower than expected losses have left the financial picture looking tough but more manageable.

However, the outlook was still uncertain.

Mr Manvell said: “There do remain a number of ongoing risks while the pandemic remains with us.

“But this is a very good situation compared with the early forecasts in April and May.”

He said that “unusual measures” – such as reducing casual staff’s hours and furloughing some staff – had helped to bring costs down.

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Green councillor Tom Druitt said that the improvements were down to council officers “working a few miracles along the way”.

He said: “It’s an improvement that none of us could have dared hope for. There’s a huge amount of thanks due to all the officers involved for a massive effort over the last few months to get control of this.”

Conservative councillor Joe Miller praised officers for saving the city from massive deficits and producing the best forecast in years.

Labour councillor Daniel Yates said that he was pleased to see the council’s income recovering more quickly than originally thought.