Issue - meetings

Leicestershire districts council tax performance review

Meeting: 19/12/2019 - Scrutiny Commission (Item 227)

227 Leicestershire districts council tax performance review pdf icon PDF 453 KB

To provide an update and overview of council tax collection performance in response to a request of members.

Minutes:

Members were updated and provided with an overview of council tax collection performance for 2018/19 for all Leicestershire districts following challenges raised by Leicestershire County Council which suggested that council tax recovery rates in Leicestershire were lower than other county areas.

 

It was explained that the county council in compiling its data had taken only a snapshot of the recovery figures at the end of the financial year and had not taken into account money collected after the end of the financial year. It was noted that the recovery rate was 99.21% after allowing for payments received after the year end, which exceeded the target of 98.85%, demonstrating that the county council’s challenge had been unfounded.

 

Members were assured that whilst debt was chased, advice was followed on dealing with debtors appropriately and each case was considered on its own merits. New initiatives including text alerts and contacting debtors outside of office hours were being investigated to further improve collection.

 

The impact of universal credit was queried, and it was noted that this had less of an impact on council tax collection than on rent collection as council tax was considered to be a priority debt, but as a consequence there had been an increase in applications for discretionary housing payments.

 

It was agreed that a letter be sent to the county council to respond to their comments.