Remit from Education, Children and Families Committee - Annual Bad Debt Write-Off Exercise
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 Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref: GMcL / TO’H Date 12/09/23 Annual Bad Debt Write-Off Exercise From: Gerard McLaughlin E-mail: McLaughlinG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: 01698 812269 1. Background 1.1. Under delegated responsibilities, North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations require Chief Officers and the Chief Officer for Finance to approve the write-off of outstanding accounts of less than £500. In addition, the aligned parent Committee is required to approve the write-off of outstanding accounts due to the Council which are greater than £500. Executive Summary This report provides a summary of outstanding debtor accounts relating to previous financial years which are deemed either to be uncollectible following all attempts at recovery or, are not economically viable to continue pursuing. In accordance with Council’s Financial Regulations, a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts. The total recommended for write-off for 2023/24 is £26,167.28. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: 1) Acknowledge the decision of the Chief Officer (Education North) and Chief Officer for Finance, under delegated responsibilities, to write-off a total of £5,567.07 for outstanding debtors accounts under £500. 2) Approve the write-off of £20,600.21 for outstanding debtors accounts over £500. 3) Remit the content of this report to the Finance and Resources Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning
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2. Report 2.1. Chargeable Activities and Recovery Actions 2.1.1. The Education, Children and Families Service provide a range of chargeable activities such as, but not limited to, membership and venue admission charges within the Active & Creative Communities estate; cross boundary and / or inter-authority charges for service provision within educational sectors; and educational leadership and training courses. 2.1.2. For context, during the 2022/23 financial year, the Education, Children and Families Service raised 733 invoices which had an aggregate total value of £2.993m. In conjunction with the Corporate Debt Recovery Team, every effort has been made by the Service to fully recover outstanding accounts including reminder correspondence, use of collection agents, and legal action. The value of the accounts identified for write- off in this report represent a small proportion (less than 1%) of the total value of invoices raised each year by the Service. 2.1.3. Despite these proactive actions, there are several accounts that have been deemed uncollectible and/or are considered not economically viable to engage in further collection initiatives. The annual process of assessing the likelihood of the non- recovery of debt conforms to accepted accounting best practice and is a realistic assessment of expected levels of future payment. 2.2. Analysis of Write-Off 2.2.1. A critical and in-depth analysis of the outstanding balances was conducted resulting in a write-off total of £26,167.28 represented by £5,567.07 (accounts < £500) and £20,600.21 (accounts > £500) respectively. 2.2.2. There are several reasons why the outstanding balances have been identified for the purposes of the annual write-off process. These are aggregated as follows: 1) Deceased The debtor is deceased and there have been insufficient funds within the estate to meet the outstanding sum due. 2) Recovery Exhausted All available avenues have been pursued and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. 3) Uneconomic to Pursue There are insufficient funds and/or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and it is uneconomic to continue to seek the outstanding sum due. 2.2.3. For additional information, the tables below provide an analysis of the proposed write- off by value (Table 1) and cause (Table 2) in line with the categories described previously.
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Table 1 VALUE £ No of Accounts < £500 5,567.07 23 > £500 20,600.21 6 TOTAL 26,167.28 29 Table 2 CAUSE £ No of Accounts Deceased 0 0 Recovery Exhausted 20,668.65 25 Uneconomic to Pursue 5,498.63 4 TOTAL 26,167.28 29 2.2.4. There are no new financial implications linked to this report in relation to the current financial year. The write off costs will be supported via the relevant financial provision outlined in the Council’s Annual Accounts. 3. Measures of success 3.1. The Corporate Debt Recovery Team and the Service will continue to monitor and review the volume and value of outstanding debts and seek recovery of all sums owed to the Council. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1. Not Applicable. Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education North) 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
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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? As stated within the main body of the report. 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? 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?
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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? The approach outlined in this report supports the Council’s actions in managing financial sustainability and financial management risks. Financial pressures and risks are reviewed on a regular basis by the Service Management Team (SMT), Business Management Team (BMT), Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Committee. 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 ☐