Annual Debt Write-Off 2019/20

This paper requests approval to write off trade debt and salary/pension overpayments, which have been deemed irrecoverable or not considered economical to pursue for the financial year 2019/20. The MPS wishes to write off the following:

• £121,241.17 of debts are to be written off where the debts are considered irrecoverable, and

• £47,478.37 of debts are to be written off where it is considered too uneconomical to pursue

1. The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve the following write offs:

a. £121,241.17 of debts are to be written off where the debts are considered irrecoverable, and

b. £47,478.37 of debts are to be written off where it is considered too uneconomical to pursue

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The MPS aims to recover all debts including salary/pension overpayments. The MPS will only write off debts once all other avenues have been exhausted. If a debt is written off and a debtor is subsequently traced, the MPS will reverse the write off and pursue the debt again. The MPS does consider each case on its merits and makes recommendations accordingly.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. Given the financial pressures facing the MPS, the MPS makes every effort to pursue debts where it is economic to do so. The MPS report that where there are opportunities to improve processes to reduce the potential for over-payments these are identified and implemented.

2.2. See the Part 2 for further details.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The amount of write offs (£168,719) in terms of the MPS’s related payments of more than £4bn whilst an increase from last year is low. The table below provides the context of the level of write offs:

Payroll Pension Trade

Total irrecoverable/ uneconomical to pursue £ (last year) 105,079

(63,397)

24,067

(4,121) 39,573

(7,702)

Annual cost £m 2,678.40 689.5 1,055.6

Percentage of cost 0.0039% (0.002% last year) 0.0035%

(0.0006% last year) 0.0037%

(0.0007% last year)

3.2. The MPS aims to keep write offs to a minimum. Embedding the Business Support Services provision by SSCL has provided the MPS with opportunity to implement processes to mitigate the level of write offs by reinforcing to all staff their responsibilities in this area, in particular the need to inform payroll immediately of any changes in circumstances that could affect pay.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 police and crime commissioners “must (a) secure the maintenance of the police force for that area, and (b) secure that the police force is efficient and effective”.

4.2. The MOPAC Scheme of Consent and Delegation paragraph 4.8 requires approval from the Deputy Mayor of Policing and Crime to write off all debts that are considered to be irrecoverable.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

5.1. The Part 2 report contains some personally identifiable data. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required.

6. Equality Comments

6.1. There are no direct equality or diversity implications arising from this report.

7. Background/supporting papers

7.1. Appendix 1 MPS Write Off report.