Content

Salford City Council - Record of Decision
 

I, Councillor Youd, Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Finance,
Support Services & Regeneration, in exercise of the powers
contained within the Council Constitution, do hereby:
 

·      
Approve the write-off
of irrecoverable debts for Business Rates to the value of
£1,021,075.13

·      
Note the
write on value of £134,964.10
 
The Reasons are: The liabilities mentioned in the report for
write-off are irrecoverable.
 
Options considered and rejected were:
To leave outstanding amounts on
the accounts for a further period.
 
Assessment of Risk:
The write-off of
irrecoverable amounts is an essential part of account
administration.  The
total write-off value, as a percentage of the Net Collectible Debt
for financial
year 2024/2025 equates to
0.88%.

 
The source of funding is: The bad debt provision has been
confirmed.

 
Legal Advice obtained: Supplied by Matt Lockett, Head of
Legal
The Council must follow the legal framework for the
collection and recovery of business rates as laid out in Schedule 9
of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and part 2 of the
Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists)
Regulations 1989. In some cases, it will be impossible to recover
unpaid rates for legal reasons such as insolvency, or where it is
considered uneconomical to pursue a debt. The report explains the
Council’s approach to such situations.
 
Financial Advice obtained: Supplied by David Eden, Finance
Manager
There are sufficient provisions
available to cover the cost of the proposed write-offs.
 
The following documents have been used to
assist the decision process:

Lead Member Report.

Detailed list of accounts to be written-off (not available to the
public).

Case files have been prepared for high value debts where current
recovery methods have been unsuccessful and where appropriate
evidence of working with legal specialist for complex business
rates recovery service (not available to the public).

Some of the relevant documents contain exempt or confidential
information and are not available for public inspection. Other
documents which are in the public domain are the relevant write-off
strategies.

 

Contact Officer:

Jane Betts, Service Manager – BusinessRates    Email: jane.betts@salford.gov.uk

 

This decision is not subject to consideration by another
LeadMember.

 

The appropriate scrutiny panel to call-in the decision is the
Overview & Scrutiny Board.

 

Signed: Councillor Jack Youd                        
Date: 25th February 2025

Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Finance, Support Services
& Regeneration

 

This decision was published on 26th February 2025.

 

This decision will come into force at 4.00pm on 5th
March 2025, unless it is called-in in accordance with the
decision-making procedure rules.