£5 million in debts owed to Staffordshire council

The council is owed a total of £5.3 million, with Clinical Commissioning groups (CCGs) across Staffordshire owing £2.2 million, £300,000 owed by the Police and Crime Commissioner's office and £500,000 owed by Persimmon Homes.

All of these are debts are older than six months and sit alongside £100,000 debts racked up by South Staffordshire College and the County Staff Club.

The council aims to keep the amount of money it is owed down to around £2.25 million.

The council confirmed that none of the debts were classified as 'bad debts' and that they intended to get the money.

Ian Parry, deputy leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: "The report simply lists money that has been outstanding for at least six months, as part of our policy of openness and accountability.

"A lot of it relates to combined public sector projects that are usually complex and often take time to conclude, so most of it is money we'll receive in due course."

The £300,000 debt racked up by Staffordshire PCC Matthew Ellis has been played down by both Mr Ellis and the County Council, with the outstanding money relating to the Staffordshire Youth Offending Service's drug and alcohol programme which is run by the council but receives donations from various services across the county, including the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Councillor Parry said: "There's no dispute about the money and I expect it will be transferred in the near future. Public sector partners often work together on complex projects that take time to conclude.

"No services have suffered and as it's being transferred from one public purse to another this is, in a sense, very much a paper exercise."

Mr Ellis added: "I want a valuation for what the money has been spent on. We are doing this for all our payments and this is how we have saved so much money.

"The county council haven't done their valuation yet but when they do and I can see the money has been spent as agreed then the cheque will be in the post."

The £500,000 debt listed for Persimmon Homes is currently being dealt with by the council's legal team, according to a cabinet report from April.

But Stephen Cleveley, sales director at Persimmon Homes West Midlands, said: "We are not aware of any legal action with Staffordshire County Council but we will of course work with them to resolve all outstanding issues."

The County Staff Club, who are listed as owing £100,000 to the County Council, said: "We would rather not comment at this stage, it is something we are discussing with the council."

South Staffordshire College was not available for comment.