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| UK debt collection plan has 'failed' say MPs | UK debt collection plan has 'failed' say MPs |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The Treasury and Cabinet Office need to come up with a plan to help manage £22bn owed to the government, say a group of influential MPs. | The Treasury and Cabinet Office need to come up with a plan to help manage £22bn owed to the government, say a group of influential MPs. |
| The majority, £15bn is owed to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). | The majority, £15bn is owed to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). |
| The Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice account for most of the remainder. | The Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice account for most of the remainder. |
| The committee has warned that failure to minimise the volume of outstanding debt was having a direct impact in the form of higher government borrowing. | The committee has warned that failure to minimise the volume of outstanding debt was having a direct impact in the form of higher government borrowing. |
| The money owed ranges from unpaid fines and taxes to overpaid tax credits. | The money owed ranges from unpaid fines and taxes to overpaid tax credits. |
| 'Intelligent customers' | 'Intelligent customers' |
| While funds owed to HMRC dropped by £5.5bn in the last four years, £3.5bn of this was due to written-off tax credits and other debt it has given up. | |
| "While the Treasury and the Cabinet Office say they are belatedly developing a cross-government strategy for debt, we are concerned that the centre [of government] has taken so long to drive improvements in debt collection, given that this should be a basic business activity, and given the huge volume of bad debts that are written off each year," said the report. | "While the Treasury and the Cabinet Office say they are belatedly developing a cross-government strategy for debt, we are concerned that the centre [of government] has taken so long to drive improvements in debt collection, given that this should be a basic business activity, and given the huge volume of bad debts that are written off each year," said the report. |
| Authorities should also consider the effectiveness of hiring debt collectors, it said. | Authorities should also consider the effectiveness of hiring debt collectors, it said. |
| "We are particularly concerned about the risks of vulnerable debtors being pursued inappropriately," said Margaret Hodge MP, who chairs the Committee of Public Accounts. | "We are particularly concerned about the risks of vulnerable debtors being pursued inappropriately," said Margaret Hodge MP, who chairs the Committee of Public Accounts. |
| The departments owed money should start acting like "intelligent customers of debt collection agencies," said the committee. They should also collect better data to make more effective use of resources. | The departments owed money should start acting like "intelligent customers of debt collection agencies," said the committee. They should also collect better data to make more effective use of resources. |
| The committee recommended that the Cabinet Office give targets to government ministries for improved management of debts. | The committee recommended that the Cabinet Office give targets to government ministries for improved management of debts. |
| The Treasury ought to test the departments against those targets, it said. | The Treasury ought to test the departments against those targets, it said. |