Council to write off 'unrecoverable' £100,000 debt

A council has approved a decision to write off more than £100,000 of "unrecoverable" debt.

Members of South Holland District Council's cabinet heard at a meeting on Tuesday there was a total of £114,957.44 uncollectable debt, made up of both council tax and business rates.

Councillor Paul Regdate, the portfolio holder for finance, said there was "no realistic prospect of recovery" and the council had "exhausted" enforcement options.

The councillor said over half of the debt related to insolvency cases.

Regdate said the authority had "consistently achieved a collected rate exceeding 99%" through its recovery and enforcement system.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, cabinet members also agreed to raise the threshold at which a debt can be written off by an officer without their approval.

This will mean the authority's section 151 officer, who is the director of finance, will be able to write off debts of up to £5,000 – up from a previous limit of £1,050.

Regdate said the amendment brought them in line with other authorities.

"In the current financial year, the section 151 officer has approved write-offs totalling £33,948.13 with a cost to the council of £13,941.97," he said.

The leader of the district council, Nick Worth asked how the current debt write-off compared with previous years.

Regdate said the situation had improved, but he was "acutely" aware that more people were struggling financially.

"Whilst we anticipated the number would have increased, it actually hasn't done so, which means we are doing the right thing through early conversations, early dialogue, encouraging people who are struggling to reach out to us," he added.

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