Cash-strapped council forced to write off £1.2m of debt

Bulk of cash owed due to bankruptcy or liquidation

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

LEADERS ata ‘cash-strapped’ council have agreed to write off more than £1.2 million of irrecoverable debt.

The money owed to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, above, included £556,087 in unpaid council tax and £623,648 in unpaid business rates, with each individual debt being over £25,000.

Cabinet members approved the decision to write off the debts, which have accumulated since September 2023, at their meeting on Tuesday.

They also noted the writing off of £379,022 in business rates owed by Cineworld, River Island and Poundland, in relation to restructuring plans ordered by the High Court.

Debts over the £25,000 threshold can normally only be written off with cabinet approval - smaller debts can be written off by officers under delegated powers. The council says that it will only write off debt as a ‘last resort’ after all routes for recovering the money have been exhausted.