Council's Debt Collection Policies Pay Off

North Norfolk District Council is again one of the best-performing councils in the country when it comes to collecting council tax and business rates.

Like last year, NNDC is in the top quartile for performance, with 98.6 per cent of council tax collected (the same as last year) and 99.1 per cent of business rates collected (compared with 99.2 per cent in 2004/05). The national average this year was 96.8 per cent for council tax and 98.4 per cent for business rates.

NNDC had a total of £44.5 million in council tax to collect in 2005/06, and while almost £1 million is still to be collected (some of it from previous years). only £50,000 of that was written off (compared with £35,500 written off in 2004/05 and £62,000 the year before). The rest is being pursued.

For business rates, NNDC wrote off only £30,000 in 2005/06 (£28,000 in 2004/05 and £32,500 in 2003/04) out of a potential income of just over £17 million.

The figures, which have to be supplied yearly to the Audit Commission as part of the Council's performance monitoring, show how NNDC's new Debt Management and Recovery Policy and Debt Write-Off Policy are helping to keep non-payment to a minimum and limit its impact.

The policies ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to recover debts, that help is given to people who are in genuine financial difficulty (through agreements to pay outstanding debts over a longer period, for example), and that people who can afford to pay but who do not are pursued vigorously - and could even face bankruptcy proceedings.

Councillor Peter Moore, Cabinet Member for Resources, said; "North Norfolk District Council believes that its council tax payers should get a fair deal, and that means they should not be subsidising services for those who are able to pay but refuse to do so. At the same time, we must ensure that people who want to pay, but who have difficulty, are given every chance to fulfil their obligations. Either way, we take non-payment very seriously, and that shows in our encouraging performance results."

ENDS