To adopt the Revenues and Benefits Write-Off Policy with effect from 1 April 2018.

That the Revenues and Benefits Write-Off Policy, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be ADOPTED with effect from 1 April 2018. 

98.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 17-25, asked Members to adopt, with effect from 1 April, the amended Revenues and Benefits Write-Off Policy which was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

98.2           The Committee was advised that the write-off of bad debts was a necessary function of any organisation which dealt with the collection of debt. The current policy had been in place since April 2016 and now needed to be refreshed and updated to ensure the policies and procedures in place were effective in enabling the management of debt in an ever changing local taxation environment, as well   as to incorporate a number of staff changes which had taken place. The amended policy referenced how the Council treated credit balances and included more detailed information than the previous one. It also sought to introduce more robust management checks to ensure that, when writing balances off, the appropriate procedures had been followed.

98.3           Referring to a later Agenda item, a Member expressed concern that the Council had let a debt build up over quite a long period and questioned how this could happen. In response, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that the issue would be dealt with through a policy on the collection of debt rather than the Write-Off Policy. She was keen to improve the Council’s collection rates and she would be bringing that policy before Members in due course. Another Member queried how small an amount would need to be before it was ‘uneconomical to collect’. In response, the Committee was advised that the amount charged for a summons was £55 so, in theory, anything less than that would not be economical. In general the Council tried to collect all debts but, in reality, there was a need to focus resources; it therefore made sense not to specify an amount but to leave it to a judgement of the individual circumstances.

98.4           Accordingly, it was