String of bankruptcies force £62,000 write-off

DEBTS of more than £60,000 have been written off by Rother's finance team after a string of penniless businesses went bankrupt.

32,100 of the sum was owed in rent by the owner of an industrial unit who traded from January 2007 to September 2008. After the company owner was declared bankrupt, Rother District Council (RDC) found nothing of value they could sell to re-coup some of the loss.

Unpaid rents and non-domestic business rates make up the rest of the 62,253 total.

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At a Cabinet meeting on Monday, chief executive Derek Stevens defended his finance team, saying: "We have the best record of debt collection in East Sussex. I feel a little frustrated at the implication that staff are sitting there doing nothing.

"They are hard on the case but they have to have a balance. All local authorities write debts off, as does the private sector."

Cllr Robin Patten said: "I find it incredibly depressing to have more than 60,000 written off on a Monday morning almost at a whim.

"I just need reassurance from the head of resources that we are actually taking every possible step to avoid getting into the situation where it becomes around 62,000 gone."

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Malcolm Johnston, head of resources, said: "I think my officers move as quickly as they possibly can. I think we do strike roughly the right balance.

"We're caught between a rock and a hard place with this. We want to give people reasonable time to make payments. We only write them off as a matter of last resort."

He stressed the write-off was an accountancy measure, and that if the bad debtors come into money, council collection officers would contact them again.

Cllr Patten said: "Obviously we don't wish to impede any business which is struggling, however we do have a responsibility to not be left with these bad debts."

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