Agenda item

The Executive Director for Finance and Corporate Resources presented the quarterly monitoring of Write Offs report for the period 1st October – 30th December 2013.  During the delivery of this presentation the following items were highlighted for Members’ consideration.

·                The total current bad debts provision for the Council was £202,743 by 30th December 2013.

·                There was more debt outstanding to the Council in December 2013 than at the same time in 2012.

·                The higher level of debts than usual accrued in relation to green waste collection was due to the deadline for payments had being later than in previous years.

·                The Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates Arrears, recorded in Appendix 2, contained cumulative debt figures for each year since 1999/2000.

·                The Council Tax arrears detailed in the report displayed both arrears to the Council and to other bodies in receipt of Council Tax, including West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council.  Only 14% of the total debt detailed in the tables was owed to Bromsgrove District Council.

·                The debts for 2013/14 had not been included in the report as residents had the whole year to pay their Council Tax contributions.

Following the presentation of the report Members discussed a number of points in further detail:

·                The extent to which the Council Tax arrears for Bromsgrove in December 2013 were relative to debt levels in previous years.

·                The flexibility of the Council’s approach to supporting residents struggling to pay both arrears and Council Tax instalments for the current year.

·                The value for Members of considering the list of dissolved companies in debt to the Council.

·                The deadlines for payments, which Officers confirmed was 30 days and the approach adopted by the Council to issuing reminders to residents and businesses in arrears.

·                The legal requirements placing a statutory duty on the Council to collect Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates and the limits these legal requirements placed on the potential to offer incentives to encourage timely payment.

Officers advised that the Council assessed each individual with Council Tax arrears on a case by case basis.  Bailiffs would be called upon to recover property in order to cover debts as a last resort as Officers recognised that the costs of involving bailiffs would be passed onto the resident who might not be in a position to afford to pay.

Members expressed some concerns about residents on low incomes who might be struggling to pay their Council Tax and commented that many residents in these circumstances would be anxious about their debts and might not be aware of the different options available to enable them to pay off their debts.  In this context the Board suggested that a sensitively phrased press release could be issued by the Council in order to reassure residents in these circumstances and to advise them about the payment options available. 

The Board therefore

RECOMMENDED that the Council issue a press release to advise residents with Council Tax arrears about the payment options available and the support provided by the Council with this process.

RESOLVED that in future reports a breakdown of the categories of businesses be included in the Write Off of  Non Domestic Rates.