Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet considered a recommendation on 6 October 2026 to publish an updated Corporate Debt Recovery Policy that, for the first time, includes formal procedures for recovering unpaid garden waste subscriptions and rent arrears from households in temporary accommodation.

Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet considered a recommendation to approve an updated Corporate Debt Recovery Policy at its meeting on 6 October 2026, following a review by the Finance, Regeneration and Property Scrutiny Select Committee on 15 September 2026.

What the policy covers

The council’s Corporate Debt Recovery Policy was first adopted in July 2012 and was last reviewed in January 2022. It sets out how the council pursues money owed to it across five existing categories: general debt, council tax, national non-domestic rates, housing benefit overpayments, and parking penalty charge notices. Officers confirmed that no changes were required to any of those five existing sections.

The updated policy adds two new areas for the first time. The first is garden waste subscriptions, with the procedure for issuing annual renewal reminders to customers set out in Appendix F of the policy. The scrutiny committee was also told that work was under way to introduce recurring card payments for garden waste subscriptions, described as offering greater flexibility than direct debit arrangements.

The second new area is homelessness — specifically, the recovery of rent from households placed in temporary accommodation by the council. However, that section of the policy was not ready for approval. Officers told the scrutiny committee that the homelessness rent recovery process was still being reviewed and depended on the implementation of a new Rent Accounting System linked to the council’s HUME Housing system. It was hoped the review would be completed by early 2027, after which a further report would go to the Finance, Regeneration and Property Scrutiny Select Committee before being submitted to Cabinet for decision.

Rationale and legal background

The report noted there is no legal requirement for a council to have a Corporate Debt Recovery Policy, but that the Local Government Ombudsman has previously advocated publication of a council tax debt recovery policy. Officers warned the council could be open to criticism for not setting out its collection policy for other debts.

The policy states that the council will treat all debtors consistently, distinguishing between those who cannot pay and those who will not pay, and will aim to keep council tax as low as possible by recovering all money owed efficiently.

The Finance, Regeneration and Property Scrutiny Select Committee recommended approval of the policy, with the motion proposed by Cllr Harman and seconded by Cllr Williams.

The council had not published the minutes of the Cabinet meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.

Sources

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