Remit from the Adult Care and Social Work Committee held on 5 September 2023 - Sundry Debt Write Off 2023
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 Adult Care and Social Work Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref DF/PMcA/AB Date 05/09/23 Sundry Debt Write Off 2023 From Diane Fraser, Chief Officer (Adult Social Work Services) E-mail fraserdi@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 1. Background 1.1 During 2022/23 the Council issued invoices with the approximate value of £105m. 1.2 Within Adult Health & Social Care there are a number of chargeable services mainly in the following areas: • Home Care Charges • Nursing Home and Residential Home Accommodation Charges • Community Alarms • As well as chargeable services, invoices are raised to other local authorities, health, and universities. 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 considered uneconomically viable to continue pursuing. In accordance with financial guidelines a bad debt provision has previously been established for the outstanding accounts highlighted below. Recommendations It is recommended that the Adult Care and Social Work Committee: (1) Endorse the decision of the Chief Accountable Officer and Head of Financial Solutions under delegated responsibilities to write off £9,013.89 for debts under £500. (2) Approve the write off of £167,917.13 which includes debts greater than £500. (3) Remit this report to Finance & Resources Committee. 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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1.3 The value of Adult Health & Social Care invoices raised during 2022/23 was £64m. This figure includes invoices raised to other local authorities, health, and universities (£63m). 1.4 In conjunction with the corporate debt recovery team, every effort is made to recover any unpaid debt including reminder letters, the use of collection agents and legal action. However, despite these steps there are a number of debts that are deemed uncollectible or are considered not economically viable to engage further collection activities and costs. This annual process of assessing the likelihood of debt non- recovery conforms to accepted best accounting practice and is a realistic assessment of expected income. 1.5 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter, and recovery is deemed practical. 2. Report 2.1 Analysis of the outstanding balances has been conducted and £176,931.13. has been identified as uncollectable. 2.2 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. • Small Balances/Uneconomic to Pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and it is uneconomic to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. • Gone Away. The debtor has moved address and cannot be located. • Recovery exhausted. Despite all efforts the service has now been informed that these accounts will not be recovered. 2.3 The following tables categorise the value of debt recommended for write off by cause and value: Deceased 38 48,882.43 Small Balances/Uneconomic to Pursue 21 5,889.22 Gone Away 0 0 Recovery Exhausted 30 122,159.48 Total 89 176,931.13 Value Analysis < £500 62 9,013.89 > £500 27 167,917.24 Total 89 176,931.13 2.4 The value of accounts identified for write off represents a very small proportion of the accounts raised annually by Adult Health & Social Care. This is reflective of a number
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of activities aimed at improving collection rates, reducing debt arising and streamlining the recovery process. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Service continues to engage in a number of activities aimed at improving collection rates, reducing debt arising and streaming the recovery process. 3.2 These include: • Implementation of Debt Recovery Procedures • Performance Management Reports • Payment Arrangements • Payment by Direct Debit 3.3 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter, and recovery is deemed practical. 4. Supporting documentation n/a Diane Fraser Chief Officer (Adult Social Work Services)
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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? 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 ☐ 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?
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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 ☐