A.24/20
Consideration was given to a report that
provided the Committee with an update on the position of Sundry
Debt and Housing Benefit Overpayments up to 30 September
2020.
In
discussion, reference was made to:
a) the processes that were followed to pursue
Sundry Debt and Housing Benefit Overpayments. At the invitation of the Chairman, the Section 151
Officer outlined the processes that were followed for the pursuing
of both Sundry Debts and Housing Benefit Overpayments. Having outlined these processes, at the request of
the Committee, the Section 151 Officer committed to providing the
following information to Members outside of this meeting:
o
additional details on the types of Debts and the
terms of repayment;
o
the latest Housing Benefit Overpayment
figures;
o
the use of external Debt Collectors by the Council;
and
o
additional details in relation to where Debts were
both written-off and collected;
b)
changes in circumstances. A Member
cited a personal account whereby she had experienced a change in
circumstances that had impacted upon her Housing
Benefits. Despite immediately informing
the Council of her change in circumstances, she had continued to be
in receipt of Housing Benefits. As a
consequence, the Member questioned how frequent such instances were
and the Section 151 Officer committed to look into this matter with
colleagues outside of the meeting.
It
was then:
RESOLVED
That the position
in relation to Sundry Debt be noted.