ARP Brochure 2019 - Flipbook - Page 7
Objectives
•
A strategic plan for the wider impact of revenues and benefits changes and proposals for
businesses, families and communities
•
Use of Data and intelligence to:
A
Improve collection rates by collating
behavioural information and predicting
modelling impact of schemes
B
Maximise income to identify
properties that are not paying
business rates or change of use
C
Provide analysis to individual Councils
D
Be at the forefront of innovation
across the country
F
Provide best advice to businesses
on business rates, to facilitate their
growth, working with economic
development teams
E
Digital Transformation and
automation of services
Enforcement Agency
In 2015 the ARP Enforcement Agency (ARPE) was set up.
The ARPE team works much more closely with the Council
Tax and business rates teams than external providers are
able to. We are better able to respond in cases where
vulnerable people are involved to help those people
who are genuinely having difficulty in paying and where
appropriate the team can withdraw statutory fees.
Debtors are asked to enter into arrangements that are
affordable and take account of new debt from new year
Council Tax bills. The enforcement actions seek to help
debtors to find ways to break their current cycle of debt
through referral to agencies and through ongoing dialogue.
In addition to providing a more responsive and
compassionate service, the statutory fees collected provide
a net income of over £800k per annum. This income can
now be used to reduce the cost of the partnership to each
Council.
Fraud and Further
recovery actions
When the DWP introduced the
Single Fraud Investigation Service
most Councils passed the whole of
the Fraud team over to the DWP.
The ARP retained part of the team
to investigate Council Tax Support
cases and other Council Tax
discounts and exemptions.
The fraud and compliance
activities carried out the ARP
Fraud team, along with other
further recovery initiatives
identifies over £2 million each year
of Council Tax and the cost of staff
providing these services is shared
by the County Council.
