Agenda item

(Copy herewith)

Head of Revenues and Benefits and Revenues Manager presented the report and elaborated thereon.

It was advised that thechairoftheauditcommitteehadrequesteda reportto be providedto eachauditcommitteethatshowsanalysisofdebtandthe ageof outstandingdebt across NorthamptonBoroughCouncil(NBC)

Thecorporatedebtrecoveryteam,part of LGSS RevenuesandBenefits, is responsiblefor therecoveryofalloverduedebtacross theCouncil. Initiallyrequestsfor paymentshouldberequestedfromindividual service areas toensureincomeis collectedas soonas possible.Wherethis has beencompletedand debtsare still outstandingthedebtis thenpassedto theCouncils recoveryteamin ordertoseek paymentofthe debt.Therecoveryteam haveresponsibilityforrecoveryofoverduedebt asfollows:

§                   CouncilTax

§                   Business Rates (NNDR)

§                   Business improvementdistrictlevy(NNDR)

§                   CouncilTenantsbutnotcurrentrentarrears

·                                     Former CouncilTenants

§                  ServiceCharges for leaseholders

§                  Re-chargeablerepairs –currenttenants

§                  Re-chargeablerepairs – former tenants

§                  Housingbenefitoverpayments

§                  Sundrydebts(i.e.Councilservices)

It was reported that the amount of unmanaged debt is a corporate KPI currently no more than 4.5%.

The Revenues Manager advised that   debtis harderto collectthanever,withmorelongtermarrangements being made,andthereis aneedto lookata customer’s total indebtedness

It was advised that thereis aneedto balancetherecoveryactionasbeingappropriate, whilstnotraisingunnecessary recoverycosts,whichaddto thedebt and unnecessarystress forcustomers.

In response to questions from the Committee it was advised that

Impact of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, (CTRS), was outlined in a paper completed with consultation which was sent out in October.

A quality impact assessment is completed each year on CTRS

The Council used to benchmark against similar authorities but this is increasingly difficult as measuring against different objectives. However research is completed to see what the best practice is. The Council do not have the most aggressive debt recovery timetable however aggressive where they need to be. Bankruptcy and charging orders are still options that are made use of.

Full Council determine what the priorities are.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted