Council Debts for Write Off 2024/25
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Members considered a report which detailed debts in respect of Council Tax, National Non-Domestic Rates and Housing Benefit Overpayments which were now deemed irrecoverable, and for which approval was being sought for the debts to be written off.
All the accounts listed for write off had been through a rigorous collection process and/or trace enquiries prior to the submission for write off. Details of the recovery action taken were included at point 6 in the report, along with an explanation of the Insolvency Act 1986.
None of the accounts listed currently had any possibility of payment. However, assurance was given that in the event of any dividends or other payments being received, debts could and would be written back onto the accounts.
Members asked a number of questions of Officers, and it was stressed that Officers could only collect data legally required to perform the task, additional fields could not be introduced, and any data collected could only be used for the purpose it was collected. Any deviation from this would see the Council’s access to DWP data removed.
Assurance was offered that due diligence was undertaken to ensure no grants/assistance payments were made to previous/current debtors with Officers undertaking to double check the debtor referred to in the meeting.
It was confirmed that a single person discount review was undertaken approximately every two years, and an outline of the process was provided.
Noting that some accounts to be closed occasionally had positive credits, Officers confirmed monies from these accounts was transferred back to the collection fund once all avenues to return the money to the relevant estate had been exhausted.
Having been proposed, seconded, and voted upon it was
RESOLVED that the following arrears be approved for write off:
a) Council Tax arrears to the value of £152,536.45; and
b) National Non-Domestic rates arrears to the value of £106,329.13; and
c) Housing Benefit Overpayments arrears to the value of £20,722.80