Issue - meetings

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Finance and Resources to submit a report seeking approval to write off debts over the value of £2.5k, where there is little or no prospect of recovering them.

Cabinet

1)    NOTED the action taken by the Council to recover outstanding debts;

2)    APPROVED the write off the debts.

Aysha Rahman, Interim Assistant Director for Communities introduced the report, the purpose of which was seeking approval to write off debts over the value of £2.5k, where there is little or no prospect of recovering them.

Mrs. Rahman highlighted that a Write off of Irrecoverable Debts report was submitted quarterly to Cabinet, as financial good practice and in line with the Council’s Corporate Debt Policy.  The Policy aimed to maximise income to serve and secure the Council's financial future, balanced with the recognition that there were some circumstances in which recovery action was unlikely to succeed and therefore ‘write offs’ may be appropriate.

Mrs. Rahman confirmed that in respect of the debts presented, the Corporate Policy had been followed and recovery action had been exhausted.  The debts were detailed in exempt appendices 1 – 4 and the total debt was detailed at paragraph 5.3 of the report.

Councillor Ronnie de Burle, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Finance and Resources added that the total debt amount (approximately £54k) represented 12% of the council's average annual debt write off.  This was mostly covered by Debt Relief Orders (DRO) or Involuntary Voluntary Arrangements (IVA).

Councillor de Burle highlighted that paragraphs 4 – 4.8 of the report detailed the Council’s debt recovery efforts and how collection performance had improved against previous years.  Officers had worked within the scope of powers provided in the Corporate Debt Policy and Income Maximisation Policy (approved by Council in 2019 to recover outstanding debt) but were mindful its social responsibilities and of additional pressures on the community due to the Covid-19.

Cabinet

1)    NOTED the action taken by the Council to recover outstanding debts;

2)    APPROVED the write off the debts.

Reason for the decision

All recovery methods have been considered and where appropriate pursued, before recommending that debts are written off.

Officer time can be maximised on greater returns, focusing on debts where there is more realistic chance of recovery.