The Officer Scheme of Delegation (paragraph
2.13) authorises the Chief Finance Officer to:
Take any steps necessary for the recovery of debts and write off
irrecoverable amounts up to the limits determined by the Financial
Procedure Rules
The Financial Procedure Rules in the Council’s Constitution
set out the approval process for debt write off in accordance with
the following limits:
• For debts up to £1,000 - Chief Finance Officer;
and
• For debts between £1,000 and £5,000 - Chief
Finance Officer in consultation with the Leader of the
Council
The debts related to this decision are below £1,000 and are
recommended for write off by the Chief Finance Officer.
Recovering debt is a key priority of the Council and writing off
any debt is either a last resort or a necessity where recovery is
legally prohibited, for example where there is a Debt Relief Order
in place or the debtor has been made bankrupt.
Where debts are recommended for write off for other reasons, all
possible attempts at tracing and recovery will have been
made.
The debts recommended for write off are detailed in the restricted
enclosure and summarised below:
• Business Rates – 8 debts totalling
£2,414.85
• Council Tax – 350 debts totalling
£101,129.98
• Benefit overpayments – 120 debts totalling
£31,910.85
• Sundry debts – 10 debts totalling £829.15
Decision: Approval to write off the irrecoverable debts