1) Can you please confirm whether your organisation has a corporate or departmental debt collection policy? If yes, please specify which and provide copies of the policy or a link to the source where it can be accessed.
Yes we have a debt collection policy. We consider that disclosure of the entire policy would increase the risk of manipulation of the policy and therefore defrauding the council. The entire policy is therefore exempt from disclosure to prevent crime pursuant to section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
To assist, please find below a link to an extract from our policy with regards to debt management and debt write off:
Please also find linked the publicly accessible financial regulations document relevant to debt.
2) Can you please confirm whether your organisation has a corporate or departmental write-off policy? If yes, please specify which and provide copies of the policy or a link to the source where it can be accessed.
Please see the information provided in response to question to 1.
3) Can you please confirm whether your organisation utilizes enforcement agents to collect statutory debts? If yes, could you also confirm if any added value services are extracted due to this contract, such as fintech utilization or financial assistance? Additionally, please provide a list of the types of debts for which enforcement agents are used.
We do not utilize enforcement agents on any frequent basis.
4) Can you please confirm whether your organisation utilises debt collection agents (DCA) to collect debts owed to the organisation? ? If yes, could you also confirm if any added value services are extracted due to this contract, such as fintech utilization or financial assistance? please provide a list of the types of debts for which Debt collection agents are used.
We do utilise debt collection agents. Notably we use Ross and Roberts for Parking related debt as well as Marstons for sundry corporate debts.
5) Can you please confirm whether your organisation has a local authority-owned enforcement agent facility for undertaking “taking control of goods fees regulations” debt collections? If yes, please provide a list of debts for which this the debts the team collects, and kindly provide a copy of the notice of enforcement that is used.
We do not have local-authority owned enforcement agent.
6) Please confirm the total amount of debt written off by your local authority for the years 2021/22 and 2022/23. Please break down the figures by debt area, such as Council Tax, Parking, and Sundry Debt etc.
2022/23 – £167,410.25 Sundry Corporate Debt
2021/23 – £48,278.76 Sundry Corporate Debt + £27,338.55 CareFirst Debt
Please note we do not manage Council tax debt as a County Council. Collection of Council Tax is the responsibility of district and unitary authorities.