Council writes off £2.4m of historic debt

CASH-STRAPPED Solihull Council has been forced to write off millions of pounds in historic debt now deemed uncollectable.

- SAM GREENWAY Local Democracy Reporter

A senior cabinet member insists the authority “took all actions” it could to recover the debts.

A report presented to a council meeting revealed a total of £2,439,533 was written off in the financial year to the end of March 2025.

Officers wrote: “We take a proactive approach to the collection of monies owed to the council.

“Where payment is not forthcoming action to recover debt is taken through the courts and via tracing and collection agents.

“Where no further action can be taken to recover the outstanding balances, these are considered for write-off.”

The Conservative-run council is not alone in having trouble recovering debt and there can be various reasons authorities fail to collect the much-needed cash.