Stafford Borough Council writes off £89,000 debt

A housing benefit overpayment of £3,615.08, business rate debts totalling £76,516.20 and £8,865.27 in irrecoverable council tax were detailed as part of a regular report on revenue and benefits collection presented to the council’s cabinet at its meeting on Thursday.

That makes of a total of £88,996.55.

Cabinet members agreed to write off the arrears. But they also heard that the amount of council tax and business rates collected for the current year were in line with expectations.

Councillor Mike Smith, cabinet member for resources, said: “Council tax collected for the current year is 56.7 per cent, which we would normally collect at this stage. On business rates we are at 58.7 per cent, which is what we would expect.

Council leader Patrick Farrington added: “The figures you have provided are by the end of September but collection rates will continue to rise.”

The report presented to the cabinet covered the period up to the end of the first half of the current financial year.

It said: “Whilst our collection rates are good, regrettably not all of the monies owed to he council can be collected and this report contains a recommendation to rite off bad debts which cannot be recovered.

“All reasonable and lawful attempts are made to recover all amounts due. In the first instance this involves the issue of bills, reminders and final notices, followed by Summonses in the Magistrates Court where the warning notices are not effective. At all stages of this process, debtors are encouraged to engage in voluntary arrangements to repay their arrears, to prevent the need for formal action.

“Where necessary and when Liability Orders are granted by Magistrates, the Council uses its powers to make deductions from earnings and benefits of (council tax) debtors, where it can, and instructs Enforcement Agents where such deductions are not possible or appropriate. In the most severe cases and for debts exceeding £5,000, the council will consider personal bankruptcy action against individuals.

“For any of our powers to be effective we need to know the whereabouts of a debtor and this is not always the case. Where debtors abscond we will use all reasonable endeavours to trace them and are often successful in doing so. Unfortunately, on occasions this is not so and we must submit a debt for write off.

“The recovery powers available to us (for business rates) are again contained in the council’s approved policies and are used in full. Those powers and our procedures are similar to the council tax powers, with the exception that deductions from individuals’ benefits and earnings are not permissible, even if the debtor is an individual.”