1. No category

Cabinet
Date: 13th April 2015
Report title: Income and Debt Recovery Strategy
Wards: All
Report Authorised by: Strategic Director Enabling: Guy Ware, Strategic Director
Commissioning, Helen Charlesworth-May
Portfolio: Councillor Paul McGlone, Deputy Leader
Contact for enquiries:
[email protected]
Michelle Binfield, Lead Commissioner (Financial Resilience), 020 7926 6394
Report summary
This report asks Cabinet to sign off a new corporate Income and Debt Recovery Strategy as
attached to this report as an appendix. The strategy has been produced co-operatively with
input from debtors, debt agencies, relevant council teams and Members and is intended to
improve outcomes for debtors, especially vulnerable debtors, while maintaining strong
performance around income collection and debt recovery and has been developed fully in tune
with the council’s agreed outcomes within the Financial Resilience Strategy.
Finance summary
The proposal does not include sign off of any capital or revenue spend. There are, however,
obvious financial implications for the council relating to managing income collection and debt
recovery efficiently and in a way that supports debtors to meet their obligations.
Recommendations
(1)
To approve the Income and Debt Recovery Strategy.
1.
Context
1.1
For the council, responsible financial management is critical to enabling the delivery of
more than 100 core services efficiently and sustainably. Given the constrained budgetary
position in which the council is now expected to operate, there is an even stronger need
to ensure that income is maximised and all monies owed are collected effectively for the
benefit of residents and tax payers. At the same time, the council needs to ensure that
collection activity and enforcement action, whilst robust, takes into account the
vulnerabilities of some debtors and that support is provided to residents and businesses
to prevent problematic debt wherever possible.
1.2
Debt is being driven nationally and locally by cuts to welfare benefits, insecure
employment, low wages, job losses and access to high cost credit. The Centre for
Economic and Social Inclusion (August 2013) has estimated that, in London, households
on benefits have lost almost £2,000 per year in income. The Money Advice Service
(November 2013) estimate that the UK has 8.8m over-indebted households, 1.8m of
which are on benefits, and that around half are using credit to pay for basic living costs.
Step Change, a national debt advice charity, has stated that Lambeth is amongst the top
three boroughs for payday loan outlets/usage in London.
1.3
Local research undertaken with a sample of 100 multiple debtors in Lambeth (randomly
chosen from the 542 people who owe the council more than £2,000 across both rent and
council tax) revealed some interesting information:
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Over 90% wanted advice or practical support to help sort out their debt issues but
only 40% were actually taking up advice
Around 75% had experienced formal debt collection activity from the council and felt
that the outcome would have been better if an offer of support has accompanied the
enforcement activity
Around 40% said their debt accrued because of moving in and out of work or losing
hours at work
Around 20% declared that they had a mental health need though the real figure is
likely to be higher due to under-reporting
1.4
The council’s Community Plan 2013-16 includes key outcomes around helping residents
to be more financially secure and to live healthier for longer. Having sufficient income to
meet basic living costs and being free of the stresses and effects of indebtedness are
important to the achievement of these outcomes. This new strategy will ensure that the
council is doing all that it can in relation to managing income collection and recovering
debt to support residents to improve their financial security and reduce indebtedness and
the associated problems. The strategy has been produced using co-operative
commissioning principles and activity and has been widely consulted on.
2.
Proposal and Reasons
2.1
The Income and Debt Recovery Strategy being proposed for sign off spans all aspects of
the council’s income and debt activity. The strategy sets out the strategic aims and key
principles that the council and its partners will use in setting and collecting all charges as
well as the standards that will be applied when we are dealing with our customers to
collect income and debt. It links explicitly with the council’s Financial Resilience Strategy
and uses debtor feedback and co-production and scoping activity undertaken in the
development of that strategy to ensure that our approach is balanced and takes into
account both the importance of prevention and the need to customise our approach to
enforcement to take into account whether the debtor is vulnerable and able to pay.
2.2
After the strategy has been signed off, officers from across the council will ensure that
income collection and debt recovery activity is fully aligned with the principles outlined in
the strategy (using the detailed income and debt recovery manual to spell out how the
activity will be undertaken) and that the intended outcomes are supported through
aligning commissioning activity within the Financial Resilience work stream where
appropriate.
3.
Finance
3.1
This report is not seeking permission to allocate either capital or revenue funding
towards the delivery of an Income and Debt Recovery Strategy. It is instead asking for
Cabinet to note the need for an update to this strategy and to approve and adopt this
new version of the Income and Debt Recovery Strategy.
3.2
Spend on specific activities or specific projects mentioned within the strategy as needed
to deliver the outcomes will be done through the normal processes, using Officer or
Cabinet Member Delegated Decision reports as needed. Debt and income collection
activity is either delivered in-house or funded through external contracts and will
continue. Any changes to those arrangements necessitated as a result of the
commitments within this strategy will be subject to usual budgetary and commissioning
processes.
4.
Legal and Democracy
4.1
There are no legal implications arising from this report. Specific advice on
procurement/commissioning activity, and on local authority duties and powers in respect
of revenue collection and write off of irrecoverable debts will be provided as requested.
4.2
This proposed key decision was entered in the Forward Plan and the necessary 28 clear
days notice has been given. The report will be published for five clear days before the
decision is approved by Cabinet. A further period of five clear days - the call-in period –
must then elapse before the decision is enacted. If the decision is called-in during this
period, it cannot be enacted until the call-in has been considered and resolved.
5.
Consultation and co-production
5.1
The development of the strategy has been a fully co-operative process. As well as coproduction activity undertaken with debt advice providers, landlords, partners,
businesses and councillors, we have consulted directly with debtors through both
qualitative surveys and ethnographic research.
5.2
Specifically, officers have:
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Qualitatively interviewed 100 multiple debtors about their experiences of being in
debt, being dealt with by the council and how they might want to access advice and
preventative support in future
Reviewed the strategy with the main debt advice providers in the borough
Reviewed the strategy with ward councillors at a well attended “drill down” session
chaired by the Cabinet Lead for Finance and Investment
Discussed the issue of tackling problematic debt and what the priorities for a council
strategy would be with partners in the Financial Resilience stakeholder group
Held a national debt conference at Coin Street in July 2014 with over 80 attendees –
including all the main national debt charities and Demos. The conference used plenary
sessions and workshops to look at the reasons for debt, the barriers to accessing debt
advice, how problematic debt can be prevented, how creditors like local authorities and
other landlords can manage debt and income collection better to prevent problematic
debt and share potential solutions and best practice.
Ensured that relevant delivery, commissioning and enabling colleagues have been
brought together to formulate the strategy and revise the manual that underpins it
Undertaken ethnographic research with low income families to understand how
debt/income is managed
Taken on feedback from national organisations like Child Poverty Action Group
6.
Risk management
6.1
A new strategy will act to raise the profile of this area of activity with residents,
businesses, stakeholders and partners. There is a risk that demand for debt advice will
increase and be greater than can be managed locally. However, this risk is being
mitigated by (a) the improvements being made to the advice pathways within Lambeth
which will both add casework capacity and make it easier for residents to know where to
go to get advice via One Lambeth Advice, (b) the opening up of new debt advice
services locally funded by City Bridge Trust and (c) improved signposting to national
debt advice charities like National Debtline and Step Change.
6.2
The governance arrangements for the strategy are already in place. A Cabinet subgroup chaired by the Cabinet Lead for Finance and Investment will receive regular
updates on stated progress/outcomes. An officer-led strategy group attended by key
officers already meets to oversee the delivery of the Financial Resilience Strategy
outcomes and the oversight of the Income and Debt Recovery Strategy can be included
within these meetings. A community-led Financial Resilience Strategy stakeholder group
meets quarterly and progress against the Income and Debt Recovery Strategy outcomes can
be reported through this group and we will draw members of the intended six monthly Debt
Panels to specifically review the strategy and the council’s practice from within this group.
These governance arrangements will mitigate the risk of mission drift and ensure that the
strategy remains relevant and effective.
7.
Equalities impact assessment
7.1
No specific equalities impact assessment has been undertaken for this strategy. We do
not have the required specific information about debtors to undertake a full assessment
but we do know from the local research that we have undertaken and the data that is
available locally that debtors are more likely to be in the lowest socio economic groups,
that amongst multiple debtors the incidence of mental health problems is around 20%
and that debtors disproportionately live in social housing. The strategy seeks to ensure
that we gather better data about debtors and seek to join up the datasets we have to
build a fuller picture so we have a better sense of who is impacted by debt in future and
ensure that the council takes due care to mitigate the impact of debt for the most
vulnerable.
8.
Community safety
8.1
There are no community safety implications
9.
Organisational implications
9.1
Environmental
None.
9.2
Staffing and accommodation
None.
9.3
Procurement
None.
9.4
Health
Given the clear evidence linking economic deprivation to poor health and the impact on
public health that wider determinants like debt, poverty and poor housing can have, this
strategy is likely to contribute to many of the specific health improvement outcomes set
out in the Health and Well Being Strategy 2013-23.
10.
Timetable for implementation
10.1
Timetable as follows:
Strategy approved by Cabinet
13 April 2015
Revised income and debt manual signed off
31 May 2015
First debt panel convened with partners
1 July 2015
Six month review
1 October 2015
Audit trail
Consultation
Name/Position
Guy Ware
Helen Charlesworth-May
David Ashmore
Rachel Sharp
Mandy Green
Finance clearance
David Thomas
Democratic Services
clearance
Councillor
External
Lambeth
cluster/division or
partner
Strategic Director
Strategic Director
Director, Revenues and
Benefits and Customer
Services
Commissioning Director
Associate Director,
Commissioning
Business Partnering
Enabling: Integrated
Support: Legal Services
Enabling: Corporate
Affairs: Democratic
Services
Cllr Paul McGlone
Report history
Original discussion with Cabinet Member
Report deadline
Date final report sent
Report no.
Part II Exempt from Disclosure/confidential
accompanying report?
Key decision report
Date first appeared on forward plan
Key decision reasons
Background information
Appendices
Date Sent
Date
Received
4.3.15
4.3.15
4.3.15
6.3.15
Comments in
para:
10.3.15
4.3.15
4.3.15
10.3.15
4.3.15
4.3.15
6.3.15
4.3.15
10.3.15
4.3.15
11.3.15
1 April 2014
6 March 2015
/14-15 Democratic Services to complete
No
Yes
02 Jan 2015
3. Community impact
1. CESI report on impacts of welfare reform
(2013)
http://www.cesi.org.uk/publications/localimpacts-welfare-reform-assessmentcumulative-impacts-and-mitigations
2. Money Advice Service report on
indebtedness (2013)
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/e
n/static/indebted-lives-the-complexitiesof-life-in-debt-press-office
Income and Debt Recovery Strategy
APPENDIX 1
LB Lambeth
Income and Debt Recovery Strategy
2015/17
For Lambeth council, responsible financial management is critical to enabling the
delivery of over 100 core services efficiently and sustainably. We have a duty to ensure
that income is maximised and all monies owed to us (arrears and debts) are collected
effectively for the benefit of residents and tax payers. We want to ensure that we
pursue robust yet fair collection and enforcement action that takes into account the
vulnerabilities of some residents and provides support to residents and businesses to
prevent problematic debt wherever possible.
The Income and Debt Recovery Strategy spans all aspects of the council’s income and
debt activity. The strategy sets out the strategic aims and key principles that the
council and its partners will use in setting and collecting all charges as well as the
standards that will be applied when we are dealing with our customers.
Lambeth is a co-operative council with a vision of ambition and fairness for all. We
believe that the financial challenges facing the borough and its citizens and businesses
require us to work together to build resilience, pre-empt and prevent problems as
much as we can and be imaginative and efficient in enabling residents and businesses
to pay what they owe.
We expect those that can pay to do so promptly and we will come down hard on those
who try to avoid their responsibilities despite having the means to pay what is owed,
but we also want to better identify those that can’t pay so that enforcement action can
be appropriately tailored and we can make sure that they are supported to get to a
position where they can better meet their obligations in the future.
The council has a Financial Resilience Strategy (agreed at Cabinet in April 2014) which
was co-produced with residents, partners, community groups, Councillors and
providers and which had a focus on understanding and preventing problematic debt.
Emerging from this work was the strong sense that the council, as a key creditor, could
do more to support vulnerable debtors and this Income and Debt Recovery Strategy
ensures that this challenge has been met.
This strategy will be underpinned by a detailed Income and Debt Recovery Manual that
sets out, for those who need to know, the detail of how we will set charges, collect
income and manage debt in order to achieve the outcomes set out in this strategy.
Councillor Paul McGlone
Deputy Leader of the Council
Cabinet Lead for Finance and Investment
The Government plans to maintain their programme of austerity in order to achieve a
balanced national budget by 2019. This places an on-going burden on the Council to
make savings estimated between 2011/12 and 2017/18 to total some £200m. The
council faces a combination of 50% reductions from core Government funding,
additional burdens and demand led pressures and £90 million of savings over the
2015/16 to 2017/18 period.
Given these constraints on our funding, it is important to acknowledge that the money
that we collect as income and debt is critical to our financial well-being. It helps pay for
vital public services and, therefore, we must do everything we can to maximise our
income and debt collection. To do this we will pursue all available recovery routes
where it is clear that residents or businesses have the means or ability to pay.
In recent years, many Lambeth residents and businesses have faced difficult times. For
example, we know that:
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The Government’s programme of welfare reform is negatively affecting thousands
of Lambeth residents with many facing significant shortfalls in their weekly income
associated with cuts to benefits.
Income losses are compounded by the rising cost of living.
Debt, especially short term high cost debt, is increasing with affordable credit to
tide residents and businesses over during difficult times still being hard to secure.
Food bank use is increasing.
Approximately 38,000 residents will be required to move onto Universal Credit.
We recognise that some Lambeth residents and businesses may be unable to pay their
debts for a variety of reasons. As a council we are committed to helping residents and
businesses pay what they owe so that debt is minimised and to provide support to
vulnerable residents experiencing financial hardship. We will treat individuals
consistently and fairly in accordance with equality legislation and ensure that
individual’s rights under Data Protection and Human Rights legislation are protected.
Our Strategic Aim:
To maximise income collection and minimise levels of debt by the
most fair, efficient and cost effective means whilst identifying and
providing support for our most vulnerable debtors.
Principle 1: Understanding our customers
Listening to and understanding Lambeth’s
residents and businesses helps us maximise
the income we receive and ensures that we are
able to provide targeted support when it is
most needed.
We will:
Present information about charges and
debt in a way that is easy for our debtors
to understand so they can take
appropriate action to meet their
obligations.
We will:
Use our data to identify those that can
pay (but choose not to) and those who
can’t pay (because of some difficulty or
particular vulnerability they are
experiencing). This will help us tailor
our collection and enforcement
approach accordingly.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
Social Care Debtor Home Visits: Where
social care clients are identified as likely
enforcement cases due to non-payment of
social care charges, a home visit has been
introduced to the recovery process, jointly
made with a Social Worker and Solicitor
acting for the Council.
This allows the council to take account of an
individuals circumstances and ensures clients
understand precisely why they have to pay
the care charges and the potential
consequences for non-payment.
The aim of the visit is to engage with the
client and try and reach amicable solutions
which will prevent the Council from taking
more aggressive forms of enforcement
action.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
We continue to seek out and offer pro-active
support to multiple debtors. This is a cohort
that is made up of individuals that often owe
the council a considerable sum of money in
more than one area of debt and who are
struggling to the point that they can no
longer cope.
We use independent debt charities to make
contact and offer support to maximise take
up and use any feedback given by debtors to
refine our practice.
We will:
Continue to talk to and listen to the
people that we collect income and debt
from and get feedback from partners
who work with debtors so that we can
improve the service we offer.
We will:
Share the information we hold between
teams to help us have a better
understanding of when residents or
businesses are in multiple debt.
Principle 2: Making payment easy
By making payment processes as simple and
efficient as possible we will increase and
improve levels of collection, and make things
easier for our customers.
We will:
Seek to prevent debt by offering accessible
and varied payment options and payment
periods and promoting them clearly.
We will:
Continue to work with banks and the Credit
Union to help residents who need one to set
up a bank account so that they have access
to tools like direct debits.
We will:
Encourage automated payments, such as
direct debits, wherever possible.
We will:
Support use of 24/7 payment methods by
making sure payments can be made online
or by using touchtone technology.
We will:
Encourage and enable the payment of
charges in advance so as to avoid late
payments.
We will:
Offer residents the ability to pay their
council tax over 12 months instead of the
usual 10 months.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example:
Bank Account take up project: The council
funds a local charity to work with High Street
banks and the local Credit Union on a project
to encourage and support those using Post
Office Card Accounts to take up a new bank
account ahead of the introduction of
Universal Credit. It has been successful in
supporting hundreds of residents across
Lambeth to get new accounts, including
vulnerable residents using day centres,
hostels, Children’s Centres and food banks.
After opening accounts, residents are
supported as needed to set up wage/benefit
payments into the account and then to set up
direct debits for bills and charges. The
project contributes to the council maximising
its income while also supporting residents to
become less financially excluded.
The council continues to work with the Credit
Union to incentivise take up of its services
especially affordable loans for those that
otherwise would not have access to
affordable credit.
Principle 3: Using fair and robust collection
Robust collection is vital to ensure that all monies
owed to us (arrears and debts) are collected
effectively. At the same time, we want to ensure
that collection and enforcement action takes into
account the vulnerabilities of some residents and
provides support to residents and businesses to
prevent problematic debt wherever possible.
We will:
Maximise income collection by the most fair
and effective means, ensuring those that can
pay do pay. This includes the use of court
action and other appropriate enforcement
methods, including bailiff action as a last
resort.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
We will:
Ensure that action taken at the late stages of
the recovery process is proportionate and
reasonable and that appropriate support and
advice is provided.
Our escalation process ensures that rent
arrears cases are managed in a timely and
appropriate manner. We focus on early
intervention and proactively contact
tenants
to
prevent
arrears
from
increasing. A protocol is followed should
formal legal action be required later on in
order to recover debt.
Case Study
A Fair Approach: Miss X contacted us stating
that her account had been passed to the bailiff for
unpaid council tax but that she hadn’t been able
to move into the property for the period we were
charging her for as the roof was leaking and the
property was uninhabitable. She had to leave her
former home due to domestic violence and was
being rehoused. She was heavily pregnant and
very distressed.
Her account was immediately withdrawn from the
Enforcement Agency and her housing office was
contacted regarding this serious issue. They
agreed to credit her rent account for the period
that she had been unable to take up residence
and we replicated that on her council tax account,
the recovery costs were withdrawn on the account
and the summons was cancelled.
We will:
Offer efficient and cost effective payment
methods and promote advance payment,
direct debits and online payment.
We will:
Work with the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) to recover any housing
benefit overpayment owed by individuals
to the council by deduction from certain
DWP benefits (known as attachment of
benefits)
Principle 4: Preventing financial problems
Having a healthy relationship with money is vital
for people to be able to manage their finances
well. The right level of education and accessible
support can help prevent and reduce financial
problems before they get out of hand.
We will:
Take steps to improve financial
confidence and make debt and budgeting
support available to those who need it as
set out in our Financial Resilience
Strategy.
We will:
Encourage others to follow our lead as a
Living Wage employer and continue to
work hard with our voluntary and
community sector partners. This will help
to make sure residents can maximise the
income they are entitled to through
benefits and credits.
We will:
Aim to identify solutions for customer
debt issues at the first point of contact.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
One Lambeth Advice: The council funds
the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to run the
One Lambeth Advice service which provides
a Freephone advice line and independent
volunteer Advice Guides at a range of
community locations across the borough.
Acting as a visible support service, that is
separate from the Council, they help people
in debt find the support they need on the
internet or by phone and can facilitate
access to a debt caseworker from one of
our advice agencies as needed.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
Money Champions: a local charity is being
funded to deliver a project to increase people’s
confidence to talk about money worries and
encourage them to seek help if they need it.
They will recruit and train hundreds of local
Money Champions who live or work in Lambeth
who will be able to talk to people about money
and direct them to the local services that they
might need to help with debt, work or benefits.
We will:
Ensure that all staff involved in collecting
income are aware of the help available for
those who are financially vulnerable.
We will:
Create a local debt forum of relevant agencies
and interested citizens and businesses which
meets twice a year to increase collaborative
working and inform practice in this area
across the borough.
We will:
Encourage payment in advance to minimise
opportunities for debt to arise.
Principle 5: Support for businesses
We are committed to offering effective and time
efficient services and listening to and supporting
Lambeth businesses in the current tough
financial climate.
We will:
Apply all reliefs for business rates in a
timely manner; when eligible and applied
for
We will:
Offer help and support with cash flow
management where appropriate.
We will:
Accept Brixton Pounds for business rate
charges.
We will:
Ensure businesses are aware of their
liabilities as early as possible, to allow
maximum time to budget for payment.
We will:
Signpost small businesses and start ups
to mentoring schemes such as Tree
Shepherd. For more information please
visit www.treeshepherd.org.uk
Case Study
Support for disrupted businesses:
Network Rail works at Streatham Common
Station seriously impacted on the local
businesses in Greyhound Lane.
We attended several out of hours meeting to
discuss the impact of these works with the
business community and Network Rail.
Network Rail agreed after much discussion and
persuasion to pay compensation to the
businesses based on their lost revenue. We
helped each business complete a Valuation
Appeal Form. The Valuation Office worked with
us on this and gave a 10% reduction in the
rateable value for the period of the works.
Whilst we were waiting for the appeal to go
through, we agreed longer term arrangements
for payments of individual charges and
suspended recovery action, the businesses had a
named contact who they could contact anytime
to discuss and help with issues as they arose.
Principle 6: Better communication with debtors
Debt can be a complicated and complex issue
and simple, clear communication is vital for us
to get a message across to all of our citizens.
Making sure our communications are clear and
timely is also important in preventing arrears
and court action from occurring.
We will:
Ensure that our communications and
messages are clear and to the point;
including how much is owed and what will
happen if it is not paid.
We will:
Encourage our residents to make early
contact with us regarding their debt if
there is a problem.
We will:
Use mixed media (text messaging letters,
emails and phone calls) to communicate.
We will:
Make online billing and electronic forms
available and promote ‘My Lambeth’ as a
means of managing payments
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
Simplifying Council Tax Bills: We have tested
different styles and layouts of bills with
customers to understand how we can present
information on bills more simply and in a way
that encourages residents to respond.
In a trial of 8000 residents, presenting council
tax bills differently led to a 8.7% increase in
the number of people within the sample
paying on time when compared with the
control group.
We will:
Take every opportunity to collect and update
mobile numbers and email addresses.
Mixed Media:
We send SMS text messages alongside letters
for final notices and reminders. These extra
and
more
informal
reminders
have
increased levels of Council Tax payment.
We have also started to include information
about how to get debt advice via One
Lambeth Advice on all rent statements and
council tax bills.
We will:
Ensure that all written communication
includes the One Lambeth Advice
information so that residents know where to
go to get advice when they have difficulties.
Principle 7: Good Housekeeping
Regular staff training, strong internal
communication and consistently updated
systems are essential for efficient income
collection and minimising errors.
We will:
Ensure all staff involved in the
collection and recovery of income and
debt are given appropriate training to
support them in their roles.
We will:
Communicate better internally and take
a more joined up approach to debt
management.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
We will:
A Tailored Approach:
Minimise overpayments, late payments
and take steps to encourage residents
to notify us of any changes in
circumstances so as to prevent
arrears/debt.
Quarterly Experian reports are commissioned for
accounts where payment is not being received.
These reports show us a customer’s ability to pay,
we can see if they own their house, what the
outstanding mortgage is, the amount of equity in
the property etc. We then make an informed
decision on the appropriate recovery action. Where
the tax payer owns their own home, 9 times out of
10 we will take out a Charging Order to secure the
council’s debt. For customers who really have no
ability to pay, quarterly write off reports are
produced for senior managers to approve the
debt write off.
We will:
Review charges for late payments on an
annual basis to ensure that they are
reasonable
We will:
Ensure that consideration is given to
passing on debt for others to manage if
it is considered collectable and that the
approach to this activity is joined up
across the council.
We will:
Be proactive and consistent in writing off
bad debt in accordance with Council
Financial Regulations.
We will:
Give key staff access to debtor information
contained on our different systems to help
them establish a fuller picture of debt.
We will:
Work hard to minimise fraud and protect the
confidentiality of our residents personal data.
Principle 8: Identifying and supporting
vulnerable debtors
Our collection and enforcement action will take
into account the vulnerabilities of residents and
provide support to those who need it most.
We will:
Identify vulnerable debtors as early as
possible and flag them on our systems so
that, where appropriate, enforcement
/collection activity can be customised.
We will:
Ensure that debtors in financial hardship are
provided with advice on relevant welfare
rights, housing, discounts, relief and
exemptions to prevent a worsening situation.
We will:
Commit to holding pre-eviction panels for all
residents from our Protected Groups to
provide necessary support and consider all
alternatives to eviction.
We will:
Support vulnerable debtors who need
assistance with using computers through a
referral to our Digi-buddies service and
support those needing a bank account to get
one and manage it successfully.
We will:
Use our data to identify those that have
multiple debt problems and reach out to them
with an offer of debt support.
We will:
Cross check databases to identify anyone we
know to be vulnerable ahead of issuing a
warrant of execution for parking debt
We will:
Commit to not using bailiffs when recovering
Council Tax debts from our locally determined
Protected Groups.
LB Lambeth Best Practice example
Lambeth Protected Groups:
Our Council Tax Support Scheme already protects
disabled people, carers, war widow[er]s, older people
and those subject to the benefit cap from cuts to
Council Tax Support meaning they are very unlikely
to get into council tax debt.However, if they do, we
guarantee that when enforcing any debt we will not
send them to bailiffs.
Residents who are affected by the bedroom tax,
receipt of a discretionary housing payment
emergency support will also be considered as
Protected Group and receive this same level
protection around bailiffs.
in
or
a
of
Other residents who receive partial council tax
support (due to being on a low wage or on benefits)
who get into difficulties paying their council tax and
rent will not be sent to the bailiffs or to court for
eviction without a full and proper assessment of the
alternatives and without strenuous efforts being
made to consider all other forms of support and
enforcement first.
We will:
Consider longer term payment arrangements
for debtors suffering genuine hardship.
We will:
Refer Lambeth leaseholders and service charge
paying freeholders for free independent,
confidential and impartial financial advice.
BETWEEN THEM
597
MULTIPLE
38,000
LAMBETH
RESIDENTS
WILL BE MOVED ONTO
DEBTORS
DEBTORS
UNIVERSAL
CREDIT
RESIDENTS
DEBTORS
OWE
LAMBETH
OVER
£3
MILLION
Lambeth has 8
debt advice
charities
Average UK
household debt is
£6,000
PREVENTING DEBT, BUILDING RESILIENCE
SUPPORTING VULNERABLE
DEBTORS
Enforcement activity
tailored for protected
groups
Training
for front
line staff
Multiple
debtors
identified
•
300% increase in
payday loan debt
nationally
Write-off considered
where debt is not
collectable
SUPPORTING VULNERABLE DEBTORS
Multiple debtors
proactively contacted
and offered support
Advice
offer with
every bill
Protected
groups
flagged
Lease
holder
advice
Flag vulnerable debtors
on system
Pre-eviction panels for
protected groups