23 July 2007
Eastbourne Borough Council understands the problems associated with debt and is developing a policy to look at how it can assist customers pay off debts in a managed way.
We know people get into debt for many reasons, ranging from over-extension of finances to unemployment and illness. The main thing to remember is that by ignoring debt, it will only get worse. The sooner someone in debt does something about it, the better they feel and the more control they will have.
We also take our responsibility to collect debts to the Council efficiently and fairly, both in terms of someone who owes money and other residents.
The draft policy has been developed to address problems that some of our customers encounter. Someone may have many debts owing to the Council, but are unable to pay these all off in the time expected. It is designed to help people keep up payment of the current bills to stop them getting into more debt.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Spokesperson for Finance, Councillor Neil Stanley, says, “This is a positive step that will not only help tackle financial exclusion, but will also help us maximise income collection. We will be consulting on the draft policy with partner agencies over the next three months to ensure we get the right balance between collecting payments due to us and minimising the negative impact of poverty and debt.”
We will consider any feedback from this consultation when we produce a final document.
