Revenues and Benefits Service
The panel received a
presentation of the Head of Revenues and Benefits providing an
overview of the service. The Head of
Revenues and Benefits introduced the presentation. She thanked the committee for inviting Revenue and
Benefits staff to the meeting and explained that there had been a
lot of developments in the service over the past number of
years. She briefly outlined her
background and invited questions from members during the
presentation.
The Head of Revenues and
Benefits began by discussing the collection of council tax and
business rates and the amounts collected by the Council
annually. In response to a question
from the Chair, the Revenues Manager outlined the structure of the
teams responsible for collecting monies.
The Head of Revenues and
Benefits continued by discussing procedures in relation to the
recovery of Housing Benefit overpayments. In response to questions from members, the
officers clarified that the overpayment figure comprised
outstanding monies over a number of years and did not relate simply
to the current year. They explained how
amounts were calculated, how these were recorded and how these
could vary over time as claimant’s circumstances
changed. They outlined the wide range
of activities undertaken by tracing and enforcement agencies to
recover monies before all avenues were exhausted; and the process
for writing off housing benefit overpayment debt. The Head of Revenues and Benefits undertook
to provide the panel with a breakdown by year of the number of
overpayments and how these compared to the other Hertfordshire
authorities.
The Head of Revenues and
Benefits went on to explain how monies could be claimed from the
government for Housing Benefit overpayments; potentially resulting
in additional funds for the authority.
Councillor Watkin advised that recovery rates for the Council were
high and amounted to net income provision. He complemented the Revenue and Benefits service
in this regard.
In response to questions from
members, the Revenues Manager clarified that bailiff fees were only
payable with regard to the enforcement of Council Tax and Business
Rates and not in respect of sundry and housing debts. He explained
how this had been catered for in the various contracts and
undertook to provide the panel with the levels of bailiff fees and
how these compared to the other Hertfordshire councils.
Members discussed the total
amount of outstanding Housing Benefit overpayment and the Head of
Revenues and Benefits undertook to provide the panel with a break
down by year since 2009.
Discussions then turned to the
issue of sundry debtors and the officers outlined the various debts
that comprised the category. They
explained how monies could be paid quite quickly and how the
overall figure presented was a singular snapshot in
time. Councillor Watkin confirmed that
this figure could be a little misleading.
The Head of Revenues and
Benefits discussed procedures for the processing of Housing
Benefit, the numbers processed and how these would be reduced with
the introduction of Universal Credit.
In response to members’ questions, she reassured the panel
that ...
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