Issue - meetings

Background:

This report considered proposals for a newly created Vulnerable Persons Recovery Policy, a copy of which was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The aim of this policy was to act as a guide to the Council’s administration of Council Tax, National Non Domestic Rates, Housing Benefit overpayment and sundry debt recovery and to ensure that the individual needs of vulnerable customers were taken into account when dealing with their cases. The introduction of this policy, as recommended by the Local Government Ombudsman, therefore promoted equality since it would enable a consistent approach to identifying vulnerable persons.

A Diversity Impact Assessment was attached at Appendix 2 to the report, which reported that no adverse impacts had been identified.

Reasons:

The introduction of the Revenues & Benefits Vulnerable Persons Policy, as recommended by the Local Government Ombudsman, promotes equality for vulnerable persons subject to recovery action.