MORE than £450,000 in "bad" debt is set to be written off by Tamworth Borough Council next week.
The latest figures from the authority, covering 1st April to 30th June 2026, show a sharp increase compared with the same period last year.
In the first three months of the financial year Tamworth Borough Council is proposing to write off £485,258.
When compared to last year for the same period,, the amount has increased by £396,690.
The figures show that the largest category of debt written off was business rates, which total £479,396, followed by housing benefit overpayments at £2,412.
A court-sanctioned restructuring plan has prevented the council from collecting £250,535 in business rates from two companies, while three companies have been dissolved or struck off, meaning £192,748 cannot be collected.
Various reasons are outlined in order to write the money off , including the debt being-statute barred, the council being unable to locate the person and it not being financially viable.
Only the cabinet is authorised to write off debts exceeding £10,000, although smaller amounts can be written off by senior directors at the council.
In a cabinet meeting next week, council leaders will be asked to approve the write off.
A report states:
"The council is committed to ensuring that debt write offs are kept to a minimum by taking all reasonable steps to collect monies due.
"There will be situations where the debt recovery process fails to recover some or all of the debt and will need to be considered for write off in accordance with the schemes of delegation prescribed in the corporate credit policy.
"The council views such cases very much as exceptions. Before writing off debt, the council will satisfy itself that all reasonable steps have been taken to collect it and that no further recovery action is possible or practicable.
"It will take into account the age, size and types of debt together with any factors that it feels are relevant to the individual case."
