HC Deb 03 February 1999 vol 324 cc670-1W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how he intends to deal with the backlog of debt owed to the Benefits Agency due to overpayment of benefits; and if he will detail his plans for the write-off of old debts. [67758]

Angela Eagle

Administration of the Benefits Agency and recovery of overpayments is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, Peter Mathison. He will write to my right hon. Friend.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Frank Field, dated 2 February 1999: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how we intend to deal with the backlog of debt owed to the Benefits Agency (BA) due to overpayment of benefits; and if I will detail our plans for the write-off of old debt. We are determined to tackle the management of debt recovery in a structured, effective way. To support this, BA introduced a new debt strategy early in 1998. An Accounts Receivable Controller (ARC) in April 98, with responsibility for the whole process of debt, including control, management, and recovery. As a result BA has a more co-ordinated and cohesive organisation to deal with debt issues. A new Debt Accounting and Management system to account for and assist in the prompt identification and actioning of debt is also currently being developed. It will provide an automated, cost-effective capability to obtain control of debt, and improved Debt management information to enable detailed root cause analysis of debt. The result will be to minimise the causes of debt and maximise recoveries. The number of overpayment cases awaiting calculation is now under control and is expected to fall to a number equivalent to one month's intake of work by March 1999. A package of administrative easements agreed with Treasury have played a significant part in assisting BA reduce stocks of arrears of outstanding overpayments whilst ensuring recovery was actively pursued where possible. There is no longer a need to write-off old recoverable debts under the easements package, although debts may be written off under the criteria laid out in current instructions; these are

  • debts over £25 less than £100 abandoned 6 years after last effective recovery;
  • debts between £100 and £300, abandoned after 10 years;
  • debts over £300 abandoned after 20 years;
  • debts under £25
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