Issue - meetings

That the report be received.    

The Revenues Manager introduced a report to seek input from the Committee on the draft Fair Debt Policy prior to its consideration by Cabinet. 

He detailed the background to the report and explained that the development of a Corporate Debt Policy, which had been considered by the Committee in November 2012, established standard procedures for the collection of debt.  The introduction of a Fair Debt Policy was separate to this and was a customer focused policy to assist those in financial difficulty owing single and multiple debts to the Council.  He added that the development of the policy was a more streamlined approach and for customers it was a positive way forward. 

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management thanked the officer for the report.  He explained that it was still the responsibility of the individual to pay their debt but the introduction of the policy would ensure that the Council continued to fulfil its responsibility to maximise the collection of council tax, rents, corporate debt and housing benefit overpayments. 

Councillor P. Shotton said that it was an important policy and Councillor P.J. Curtis spoke of the work of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the assistance that this policy would provide for them.  Councillor C.S. Carver asked whether there was a complaints procedure in place as this was not referenced in the report.  The Revenues Manager said that he could include reference to a complaints procedure in the report and spoke of those customers who were struggling to pay compared to those who refused to pay. 

The Leader of the Council spoke of credit unions and the Welfare Reform Bill and said that the policy was about ensuring that those in difficulty did not make things worse and included signposts of where they could go for assistance.    He asked whether there would be a financial benefit to the Council if they did not have to engage multiple bailiffs to recover debts of customers.  The Revenues Manager responded that there would not be a reduction in costs to the Council but it would ensure that the customer did not accumulate costs of multiple bailiff visits for each separate debt to the Council.    

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management spoke of the work of the Revenues and Benefits section and the work that they had undertaken to identify those who were struggling with making payments to the Council and the increasing difficulty that they would face following the introduction of the Welfare Reform Bill.  Councillor P.G. Heesom spoke of the need to act sensibly about debt and the need to monitor the situation going forward. 

The Chairman felt that the Fair Debt Policy and the Corporate Debt Policy covered a number of similar issues and asked whether they could be collated into one document at a later date.  The Revenues Manager responded that the policies were reviewed every twelve months and this was an issue which could be considered in the future. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be received.