Purpose

The report seeks approval of the
decision to extend the contract for the provision of Enforcement
Agency Collection Services for
·      
Council Tax,
·      
Business Rates and
·      
Commercial Rents.
The Council’s current provision
of this service was originally procured via the Yorkshire
Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) and
the contract awarded to Marston Holdings Ltd and Newlyn PLC Matrix
SCM in June 2021. The contract runs for 3 years between 14 July
2021 and 13 July 2024 and includes the provision of an extension
for a period of a further 12 months. It is requested that the
12-month extension will commence 14 July 2024 and end on 13 July
2025.
 
The cost of the service (which is met
from fees charged to customers and collected by the agencies) is
dependent on caseloads the Council passes to our agents to collect
on our behalf and the ability to collect those debts. The original
estimated aggregated value of the current contract for the initial
term including the 12 month extension was in the region of
£2m with a minimum of £330,000 per provider. However,
the true value to the
external contractors over the extension period could be
significantly lower than the £330,000 per annum figure as the
Council is developing plans to launch its own in-house enforcement
service which will significantly reduce the need for external
agencies.
 
This is part of a wider programme of work
that aims to transform our approach to debt a) as part of the
2023/24 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) proposals and b) our
wider ambition to provide a more relational approach to debt
collection. This will dovetail the welfare and debt missions work
as we begin to plan longer-term around these challenges alongside
the ongoing and immediate responses, and eventually move from a
reactive to proactive approach by offering more holistic support to
residents. The insourcing of our enforcement work is a key tenet of
this.
 
Over the medium to long term this will
include taking steps to unite the council’s approach to debt
collection and provide a more cohesive offer to prevent our
resident's debt from escalating, as well as improve our own
financial resilience. This is drawing on a wide range of work
already underway in supporting residents in hardship with the aim
of articulating our ambition for better financial resilience and a
more unified debt and welfare offer.
 
This extension period allows the Council
to continue to access the services of enforcement agency collection
services whilst the in-house work is ongoing. As noted above it is
expected that reliance on external enforcement agents will reduce
when the in-house team becomes operational.
 
 

Content

THAT the Executive
Director, Corporate Services:

Notes the performance of the contract.

Approves the extension of the contract/s for a period of 1
year for the estimated sum of £660,000 (£330,000 per
provider).