Report No. 14/2017 from the Director for Resources was received.

The Leader of the Council, Mr Mathias, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to seek approval to write off debts, over the value of £2,500, where officers believe that there is little or no prospect of recovering them.

During discussion the following points were raised:

      i.        Write-off on both Council Tax and Business rates was the lowest it had been for some years, which was a very positive position;

    ii.        New Management system for Revenue and Benefits would reduce the occurrences of overpayment of housing benefit; and

   iii.        The Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding Children and Young People, Mr Foster, requested that the Director for People and the Director for Resources look to review the circumstances of a family that found themselves in prolonged and severe financial difficulty to see if any resolution and/or assistance could be provided.

DECISION

Cabinet:

1)    NOTED the action taken by the Resources Directorate to recover outstanding debts; and

2)    APPROVED the write off of the debts shown in Exempt Appendix A (Report No. 14/2017).

Reason for the Decisions

There is no prospect of collecting the debts detailed in Appendix A; it is therefore prudent to write off the debts.