A NEW report reveals that nearly £1 in every £5 of debt that people contact Citizens Advice about is owed to government departments.

Citizens Advice is calling on government departments to address their debt collection practices after research revealed poor practice among several government agencies.

Debt specialists from across the Citizens Advice service rated debt collectors from the private and public sector on how well creditors resolve disputes, set affordable repayment plans and how easy they are to contact.

HMRC received the worst approval rating of 34 per cent, while water companies came out on top as the most responsible debt collectors.

The top concerns amongst Citizens Advice officials include the difficulties people face when trying to contact government departments.

HMRC again fared worse on this measure with 56 per cent of advisers saying they “rarely or never” get through to someone who can help.

Only 13 per cent of advisers reported that HMRC agreed debt payments that their client could afford to make.

The department was also found to be poor at resolving disputes with 48 per cent of advisers saying that HMRC Tax Credits collections staff were rarely or never co-operative.

In the last year alone Darlington Citizens Advice dealt with more than 2,000 enquiries into local and national government debt.

The vast majority – 1,540 – were in connection with council tax arrears and the remainder revolved around tax credits, various benefits and magistrate court fines.

Neeraj Sharma, Citizens Advice Darlington chief executive, said: “The government should be leading the way on good debt collection practices, not trailing in last place.

“It is important government works with their private sector counterparts and debt charities to make improvements.”