Issue - meetings

Cllr J Toye introduced the report on behalf of Cllr L Shires and stated that the Council were the top in Norfolk and top five nationally for business rates collection, and top eleven nationally and second in Norfolk on council tax collection. He added that there had been a significant shift from housing benefit claims to universal credit during the pandemic, which had made recovery more difficult, as housing benefit mis-payments could not be recovered through universal credit.

Questions and Discussion

       i.          Cllr V Holliday stated that it was a difficult report to understand, but she had received support and advice from the RM. Cllr J Toye asked whether there were any points that made the report easier to understand, to which Cllr Holliday replied that it contained a lot of technical language and Covid movements had not been clearly labelled, which could be improved with a glossary of terms. Cllr S Penfold agreed that a glossary of terms would be particularly helpful.

      ii.          Cllr N Housden referred to the changes in housing benefit to universal credit, and stated that it would be useful to understand how and when this change had taken place. The RM replied that the report covered a number of services and stated that housing benefit overpayments and collections were a complex issue but information could be sought from HMRC.

     iii.          The RM stated that one of the key recommendations in the report was to increase the delegated authority limits for debt write-offs, with Team Leaders limits doubled to £4000, whilst the RM’s limit would double to £20k to make the service more efficient. He added that the DFR and deputy 151 officer would be given the authority to write-off debts of up to £30k whereas figures over this would be referred to the DFR or CE in liaison with the Portfolio Holder. It was noted that debts as a result of insolvency were unavoidable and could not be recovered, whilst other common reasons for write-offs included ‘gone aways’ where those with debts could not be found. The DFR referred to performance and stated that business rates arrears had stood at £329k, with £200k collected since 1^st April brining total arrears down to £129k. He added that council tax arrears had stood at £4.1m, with £759k collected since 1^st April, bringing the total down to £3.3m.

    iv.          Cllr N Housden stated that it would be helpful to know whether the number and level of debt write-offs was comparable to national standards, to which the RM replied that national guidance was provided and write-offs were treated with careful consideration.

      v.          The DFC stated that universal credit enabled a single payment of benefits, and whilst this did not affect all claimants, some benefits covered by this payment were now more difficult to reclaim. He added that it may be more efficient for benefit claimants, but did make the Council’s job more difficult.

    vi.          The recommendations were proposed by Cllr P Fisher and seconded by Cllr M  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46

Decision

RESOLVED

1. To approve the annual report giving details of the Council’s write-offs in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection.
2. To approve the suggested changes to the delegated authority as shown in appendix 2 for write offs.

Reason for the decision:

To approve the annual report giving details of the Council’s write-offs in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection and the suggested delegated authorisation changes to ensure the Council seeks best use of its staff resources and manages the finances to ensure best value for money.

The Chairman introduced this item, in the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Cllr Shires. He began by thanking the Council’s Revenues team for their hard work. He explained that it was an annual report detailing the Council’s collection performance for the year and he said that collection rates remained high and welcomed the proposals to change some of the delegated powers for officers to support the best use of staff resources going forward.

Cllr N Dixon referred to page 67, table 2, which set out income streams for National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR). He said that the bottom box for the provision of bad / doubtful debt provided a figure of £1,988 – which was considerably lower than all of the other figures in the table. He asked if this was correct. The Chairman said that a written answer would be provided.

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr L Withington and

RESOLVED

1. To approve the annual report giving details of the Council’s write-offs in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection.
2. To approve the suggested changes to the delegated authority as shown in appendix 2 for write offs.

Reason for the decision:

To approve the annual report giving details of the Council’s write-offs in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection and the suggested delegated authorisation changes to ensure the Council seeks best use of its staff resources and manages the finances to ensure best value for money.