Council writes off £1.6m of irrecoverable debt

Peterborough City Council's audit commitee said it needed more information about the debts

A council wrote off £1.6m of irrecoverable debt in 2020-21, according to an internal report.

That was over a third of the £4.7m written off in the history of Peterborough City Council (PCC).

About £707,000 was lost because companies went bankrupt or into administration, a figure higher than previous years due to Covid.

The authority's audit committee has asked for more details, saying it was not clear what had been written off.

A further £887,000 was written off was because of "service transfers/commercial agreement/negotiation", a justification not listed for any other year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The debts PCC wrote off are made up of unpaid council tax, unpaid business rates and overpaid housing benefits.

But the council's audit committee have been unable to see the details of the debt.

'Vague, general information'

Speaking at meeting of the committee, Liberal Democrat councillor Nick Sandford said: "How can we audit what's happened in this process if we don't actually see the information?

"Because, just reading the report, it just gives you some vague, general information as to what these items are."

Committee chair Chris Brook added: "When I read the report, I didn't actually know what I was reading.

"I didn't really know what the write-offs were and whether it was good or bad."

Chief finance officer Cecilie Booth, who was involved in preparing the report, responded that "there's no good or bad or indifferent level" as some write-offs are simply inevitable and that the council's collection rates are generally "very good".

But she conceded that it "would help" members' understanding if they could see the details. 

The audit committee agreed to revisit the report at the next meeting rather than endorsing it without seeing the details.