Issue - meetings
Debt Management: Shared Recovery Policy
Meeting: 23/06/2015 - St Edmundsbury Cabinet (Item 85)
PDF 229 KBReport No: CAB/SE/15/038
Cabinet Member: Ian Houlder Lead Officers: Rachael Mann and Jo Andrews (ARP)
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That the Joint ARP Debt Management and Recovery Policy set out in Appendix A to Report No: OAS/SE/15/006 be approved, subject to reference being included on how to access debt advice and counselling when sending out the first reminder for non-payment of Council Tax and non-domestic rates.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered Report No: CAB/SE/15/038 (previously circulated), which sought approval for a joint Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership (ARP) Debt Management and Recovery Policy.
Councillor Ian Houlder, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet, including that the draft policy set out the mechanism for billing; and the collection and recovery of Council Tax, Non-Domestic Rates and Housing Benefits Overpayments across West Suffolk and the wider ARP.
The policy document, which was attached as Appendix A, replaced previous policies of the ARP and updated the content to reflect changes to recent enforcement legislation.
Councillor Diane Hind, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, explained that the Committee had scrutinised the draft policy and proposed an addition, whereby reference should be included on how to access debt advice and counselling when sending out the first reminder for non-payment of Council Tax and non-domestic rates. This was accepted by the Cabinet.
Having taken each of the relevant partner authorities’ revisions into account, the amended draft policy would be presented to the Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership Joint Committee for consideration by all seven partners prior to its final approval.
RESOLVED:
That the Joint ARP Debt Management and Recovery Policy set out in Appendix A to Report No: OAS/SE/15/006 be approved, subject to reference being included on how to access debt advice and counselling when sending out the first reminder for non-payment of Council Tax and non-domestic rates.