General Debtors Write-Off 2023/24
North Lanarkshire Council · 13 September 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 13 September 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref EK/NL Date 13/09/23 General Debtors Write-Off 2023/24 From Elaine Kemp, Chief Officer (Finance) E-mail kempe@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 302408 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to present to Committee a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to pursue. The total value of these accounts is £382,567.06 which is an increase of £290,075.38 on the previous year. This increase is due to debt recovery activity returning to a business- as-usual model. For 18 months the staff in this area had been utilised to support the administration of Self Isolation Support Grants, the return of the team has enabled a full review of outstanding debt across the service. In accordance with financial guidelines a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts highlighted in the report. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the decision of the Chief Officer (Finance) under delegated responsibilities to write off £62,781.21 for debts under £500. (2) Approve the write off of £319,785.85 which includes debts greater than £500. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions
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1. Background 1.1 The Council issues invoices annually with an approximate value of £106m. Of this approximately £6m relates to Finance, which mainly consists of: - • Strategy & Corporate Resources; • Home Insurance; and • Housing Benefits Overpayments 1.2 There will continue to be an appraisal of the outstanding balances to assess those which are deemed uncollectible. This annual process conforms to Best Practice and is underpinned by a systematic approach to recovery and a realistic assessment of the expected collection of outstanding balances. 2. Report 2.1 An analysis of the outstanding balances has been conducted and £382,567.06 has been identified as uncollectible. The write-off can be analysed and compared to the prior year as shown in the table below: 2022/23 2021/22 Benefit Overpayment £328,442.06 £92,491.68 Other Services £54,125.00 £00.00 Total £382,567.06 £92,491.68 2.2 The Chief Officer (Finance) has exercised powers under the Scheme of Delegation to write-off those balances which are under £500, which represents £62,781.21 of the sum identified in paragraph 2.1. 2.3 The increase in the debt proposed for write-off for 2023/24 compared to prior years is reflective of the increased debt recovery activity following the height of the Council’s Covid response. The Council’s focus has switched from supporting business grants and administering individual supports such as the Self Isolation Support Grant to return to a business as usual model, which has enabled a full review of outstanding debt including Housing Benefit Overpayments. 2.4 An analysis of the total write-off proposed is included in Appendix 1. As you will note there are a number of reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: • Deceased. The debtor is deceased and there have been insufficient funds within the estate to meet the sum due. • Liquidation/Sequestration. The debtor/business has been liquidated/sequestrated etc., and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. • No Trace/Gone Away. The debtor has been unable to be located and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. • Small Balances/Uneconomical to pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and it is uneconomical to continue to seek recovery of the sum due.
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• Recovery Exhausted. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and all appropriate recovery opportunities have been exhausted. 2.5 Whilst approval is sought to write-off the sums within our financial systems the Council will continue to monitor the situation and if circumstances change then recovery of the sums due will be reassessed. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Debt recovery will remain a priority for the service however where necessary adequate provisions will be made for uncollectable debt to ensure there is no budgetary impact. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Debt Write-Off Summary Elaine Kemp Chief Officer (Finance)
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? There are no additional financial implications for the current year because a corresponding provision for expected credit losses has been included in previous year’s accounts. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐
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APPENDIX 1 DEBT WRITE-OFF SUMMARY Cause Analysis £ Deceased 18,198.92 Liquidation/Sequestration etc. 31,279.77 Gone Away/No Trace 9,682.06 Small Balance/Uneconomic to pursue 3,964.00 Recovery Exhausted 319,442.31 Total 382,567.06 Value Analysis £ < £500 62,781.21 >£500 319,785.85 Total 382,567.06