In January this year we launched Council Challenge 2014, an ideas competition where we asked you to tell us your ideas for how public services could be improved. We were overwhelmed by the number of entries we received and the quality of ideas.
The following submission by Alexander Kenmure from Camden council made it into our shortlist. Join us in congratulating her and share your views and ideas in the comments.
The idea in brief:
Stop outsourcing tax and rent debts and instead have annual amnesties for people who are unable to pay back their arrears. A community clawback scheme could be arranged instead, whereby residents can choose an alternative way to settle their debt by giving time, expertise or even money to their local communities.
Every year people in poverty are working up debts to the state that they simply cannot repay, and these debts are aggressively pursued to meet rates collection targets. Rather than push people further into trouble, a scheme like this would revolutionise local authority debt collection. It would also encourage local people to get involved in public services (in their widest sense not just council services). This service would be offered to households that clearly are unable to settle their accounts with their local authority.
What the impact would be:
There would be a reduction in unnecessary court judgements and appearances for debts that are sold at a fraction of their original amount. This scheme would also provide opportunities for community relationships and cohesion to be fostered by increasing the resilience of those people who are likely to fall into this debt pattern. It would also reduce stress placed on poor and vulnerable households and demand on wider public sector support services.
How this idea could work for other councils:
Any council could do this. The challenge in each case would be to establish eligibility criteria that was fair and acceptable to the local area. There would need to be a use- friendly and efficient way of matching offers of community payment with areas and people in the community who would benefit from these offers. Some sort of brokerage system could be run through a voluntary and community sector, such as Citizens Advice Bureaux.
This idea was submitted by Alexander Kenmure, a strategy and improvement manager. These are the views of Kenmure and do not necessarily represent the views of the council he works for.
