Issue - meetings

The appendices referred to in the report are available to view on the Council’s website (see link above).

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Education presented a report on the performance during the third quarter of the 2011/12 financial year (October - December 2011) in respect of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits Service within Elevate East London, together with details of the debts written-off as uncollectable during the period and comparable information from the previous financial year.

The Cabinet Member for Housing referred to the rent collection targets within the contract with Elevate and the need to ensure that the achievement of targets did not impact on other elements of the Housing service such as eviction levels.  The Corporate Director of Housing and Environment advised that the service delivered by Elevate had resulted in the Housing Revenue Account benefitting by the equivalent of £1m per annum in additional revenue and that the ongoing relationship between the Council and Elevate would ensure that all contractual obligations were fulfilled.  The Chief Executive added that achievement levels within the contract had been set above the levels achieved when the services were provided in-house and the mechanisms within the contract were designed to achieve continual improvement.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To note the performance of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits Service operated by Elevate East London as detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  To note the debt write-offs during the second quarter of 2011/12 and that a number of those debts would be publicised in accordance with the policy agreed by Minute 69 (6 November 2007).