The 2019 IRRV South Eastern Association AGM will take place on Friday 10 May commencing at 4.30 pm. Marston Holdings, and Rundles & Co, have very kindly offered to sponsor the meeting which will be followed by dinner and an evening of greyhound racing.

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If possible we would like to have representation from every Kent authority and the VOA at the meeting, and it would be great to see as many members there as possible.

If you are an IRRV member and you would like to be nominated to stand for the executive please contact Zoe Kent (zoekent@swale.gov.uk). The agenda for the meeting will be sent out at the beginning of May, please send any agenda items by Friday 26 April 2019.
 
If you would like to attend the AGM please email zoekent@swale.gov.uk by Friday 26 April 2019 to receive the menu options for the evening.

The phrase "credit crunch" has been so widely used over the past year that it has been added to the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Bernadette Whitlock explains the effects more expensive mortgages, dearer credit cards and in the worst cases repossession and bankruptcy has on Revenues and Benefits services.

The next meeting will be at Swale Borough Council Offices and the speaker will be Andy Milner. The meeting starts at 2pm with tea and coffee provided from 1.30pm. Location: Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne ME10 3HT

The IRRV South Eastern Association are pleased to announce that our summer event will take place at Chilston Park on Friday 5 July 2019; further details will follow shortly.

Can you demonstrate excellence in service delivery, effective administrative procedures and a customer-focussed service?  Want to know how?

Roy Thomson provides an insight into the achievements of Lincoln’s Revenues Service that resulted in them being crowned with the prestigious award, Revenues Team of the Year 2007.   

Paul Howarth "Housing Benefit Reform" and Philip Inglis "Business Rates Revaluation 2010". Sponsored by Capita Software Services. Venue - Canterbury City Council (Guildhall, not Council Offices)

Paul Howarth, Head of Housing Benefit Strategy, Department for Work and Pensions -  "Housing Benefit Reform"

A benefit system is being created fit for the 21st Century.  It shall be simple to understand, well targeted and empowing.  Paul Howarth explains how this can be achieved.

Philip Inglis & Laurie Hulse, Valuation Office Agency Folkestone - "Business Rates Revaluation 2010"

The new draft Rateable Values became available on 1st October 2009.  Philip Inglis explains the 2010 Revaluations and their impact within Business Rates services.

Format for the session;

On 21 April 2008 Barking and Dagenham and Havering Councils became the first councils in London to provide joint services.  The Councils are working together to achieve excellence in service delivery.  Has it worked?   

Our second meeting of 2019 will take place on Tuesday 5 February. We are pleased to announce our speaker will be Dave Chapman from Rossendales. Dave will be presenting on dealing with vulnerability and suicidal disclosures, and an analysis of an ethical recovery process.

The meeting will be held at Swale House in Sittingbourne with refreshments from 1.30pm for a 2.00pm start.

Bailiffs are authorised to collect debt and can remove and sell a person's possessions in order to pay money owed to an organisation.  Straightforward in theory, but what about in practice?  Chris Rundle explains the realities of life as a bailiff.

Slides from the presentation are available here

Our first meeting for 2019 will take place on Tuesday 8 January 2019. We are pleased to announce that our speaker will be Paul Bowden from Wilkin Chapman. Paul will be covering Enforcement of Council Tax Debts. 

The meeting will be held at Swale House in Sittingbourne with refreshments from 1.30pm for a 2.00pm start.

Venue - Thanet District Council.

George Wilson (Chairman of Geroge Wilson Holding Ltd), "Coping with the recession - a business perspective" and Ian Driver, (Manager of Thanet Citizens Advice Bureau) "Coping with the recession - a customer perspective"

This year all departments within our Local Authority's have been affected by the recession. We are delighted to introduce 2 fantastic speakers who will each guide us through their own experiences of the recesssion. George Wilson outlines how businesses cope during a recession, whilst Ian Driver talks about the impact it has on our customers.  This is not one to miss - especially if you work within Revenues and Benefits!  Please notify Sharon Harvey of your attendance (using the link below) as soon as possible, as places will be in high demand.

The Association would like to thank Allpay for kindly sponsoring the meeting.

Format for the session:

 1.00pm ~ Arrival and buffet lunch for attendees and speakers

2.00pm ~ Meeting commences with an introduction from the Association President

2.05pm ~ Presentation from Allpay

2.35pm ~ Part 1 - George Wilson "Coping with the recession - a business perspective"

3.20pm ~ Questions from attendees

3.30pm ~ Part 2 - Ian Driver "Coping with the recession - a customer perspective"

4.15pm ~ Questions from attendees

4.30pm ~ Close

Remote working is becoming an attractive option for both employers and employees within Revenues and Benefits.  Bill McCafferty talks about the advantages and the successes of remote working in Tunbridge Wells.  A must for anyone currently writing their draft policy!   

The IRRV South Eastern Association Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 18 January 2018 at 11.30 am. We would like to have representation from every Kent authority and the VOA at the meeting.

Marston Holdings have very kindly offered to sponsor the meeting which will be followed by a tour of the Shepherd Neame Brewery and a light lunch.

If you are an IRRV member and you would like to be nominated to stand for the executive please contact Zoe Kent zoekent@swale.gov.uk The agenda for the meeting will be available at the beginning of January, please send any agenda items by Friday 5 January 2018.

If you would like to attend the AGM please email zoekent@swale.gov.uk by Friday 5 January 2018.

Tim Savill "The First Year of Benefit Inspections" and Juli Oliver- Smith "Shared Services - A working example".  Sponsored by Newlyn PLC.  Venue - Shepway District Council.

We are pleased to announce that the speakers for the next South Eastern branch meeting will be Dave Chapman and  Alistair Townsend.

Dave will be presenting a paper on getting the best out of the magistrates court, liability orders and committals and Alistair will present a paper on NNDR – towards 100% retention. Both topics are likely to be of interest to a wide range of members, and we do hope that you can join us.

The South Eastern Association is extremely grateful to Marston Holdings for sponsoring the event.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 May 2017 at Swale House in Sittingbourne. A buffet lunch will be provided from 1pm, with the meeting starting at 2.15pm.

UPDATED: Our next meeting will take place on Friday 16th January 2015 and our speakers will be Paul McDermott from Analyse Local, and David Magor Chief Executive of the IRRV, discussing Business Rates Retention Appeals. David will also be discussing business rates and the Autumn statement.

This is a subject that may also be of interest to your Finance colleagues so please invite anyone who may be interested in attending.

The meeting will be held at Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3HT – from 1.30pm for a 2pm start

Tea, coffee and cakes will be available before the meeting starts. Please can one person from each authority/organisation let Zoe Kent or another member of the executive know how many people from your organisation will be attending.

The IRRV South Eastern Association are pleased to announce that our summer event will take place on Friday 14 July 2017.

This year we are holding a dinner at Hempstead House, London Road, Bapchild, Sittingbourne ME9 9PP. The South Eastern Association is once again extremely grateful to Chris Rundle, of Rundles & Co Ltd, in agreeing to sponsor this event by subsidising the evening and meeting the cost of the reception, the dinner wine and free bar.

Further details will follow shortly.

Our next meeting will be a chance to attend a questions and answers session covering the enforcement reforms that came in to effect from April 2014. Chris Rundle of Rundle & Co has very kindly offered to come along and talk to us about this subject.

Tea, coffee and cakes will be available from 1:30pm for a 2pm start.

We are pleased to announce that the speaker for the next South Eastern branch meeting will be Louise Freeth, who will present a paper on combating CTRS fraud.

Louise has spoken at a number of IRRV conferences and events, and is a tutor for the IRRV exams. Combating fraud in Council Tax Reduction is a topical issue following the recent introduction of SFIS, and with the continuing need to maximise collection.

The meeting will be held Monday 18th April 2016 at Swale House in Sittingbourne with refreshments from 2pm for a 2.30pm start.

Our first meeting for 2014/15 took place at Swale Borough Council and was an opportunity to hear from Alan Sullivan, management consultant with the DWP’s Housing Benefit Delivery Division. Alan spoke about the recovery of overpayments moving forward to Universal Credit and the merits of risk based verification with e-claim forms, amongst other topics.

Answers to the questions that arose during the meeting are summarised below:

Q1 LAs are currently limited to the amount of CT they can claim from DWP debt management (£3.25 per week). Will these restrictions apply under recovery from UC?  This might be recovery of arrears, or stopping arrears occurring, and would be classed as 3rd party deductions. Is there a limit to the amount of deduction?

The maximum deduction for Council Tax arrears and most 3rd Party Deductions is currently 5% of the IS rate for a single person aged 25 or over rounded up to the nearest pence, therefore in this year 2014/15 it is £3.65. Once UC is in payment, it will be 5% of the standard UC allowance for single over 25 which works out the same at £15.73 per month.

Q2 Are there any time restrictions on applying the new DEA powers re age of O/P, or can they use them for any O/P regardless of age.

DEA can be used on any overpayment that is still within the time limit in normal legislation.

Q3 Can we use new DEA powers where we have previously failed on an attachment through county Court

Yes

Q4 Can we add previous court costs to the overpayment before applying the new DEA powers.

No

Q4 Can we apply for the new DEA powers to have debt recovered from a partners earnings?

No, you cannot take from a partner's earnings, I have looked into this as I have received a number of queries on it. There is no need to apply to the court for any aspect of a DEA which cuts down costs considerably.

Q5 If a DEA is in place and the customer experiences hardship, can we ask the employer to reduce the % rate they are using?

Yes, we can send the employer a letter asking them to deduct a fixed rate which will have been based on a conversation with the customer.

The final action point from the IRRV south eastern meeting was to provide details of RBV/e-claim sites. I am pleased now to attach the information we hold (there may be more that we don’t know about)

LA                     E-claim form          RBV system
Dudley              Victoria Forms       Coactiva
Isle of Wight     Not known              Coactiva
Merton              IEG4                      Coactiva
Peterborough   Not known              Xantura
Stockport          IEG4                      Coactiva

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday 26th May 2015. We are pleased to announce our speaker will be Andrew Stevens from EK Services who will present a paper on the Nudge Theory. The Nudge Theory looks to understand why people makes decisions and how we can change the way our customers behave and think. It can be used to encourage customers to use online services rather than phoning or in person for example. This is a subject that will be of interest to other colleagues within your authority/company so please invite anyone who may be interested to attend.

We are also pleased to announce that the National President of the IRRV Kevin Stewart will be attending this meeting, he will be giving us a national update from the IRRV and will be pleased to take any questions.

The meeting will be held at Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3HT – from 1.30pm for a 2pm start

Tea, coffee and cakes will be available before the meeting starts. Please can one person from each authority/organisation let Zoe Kent or another member of the executive know how many people from your organisation will be attending.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

Our next meeting will take place at Medway Council, it will be a chance to hear David Hendy from the Valuation Tribunal speak on the subject of Council Tax Reduction Scheme appeals and how the Valuation Tribunal will be dealing with these appeals.

David Hendy is a regular writer in the IRRV Insight magazine and has recently started work for the VTS as a team leader in the section dealing with the CTRS appeals.

Tea and coffee will be available before the meeting.

17th May 2013 'Dealing with customers with debts' - Rob Sandells of StepChange

The first of our 2013/14 events was an excellent presentation from Rob Sandells of StepChange Debt Charity. Rob provided an overview of the services that StepChange can provide to people struggling with debt, and how Local Authorities can both help and make use of these.

The event hosted by Swale Borough Council, was very well attended and attracted interest from both revenues and benefits practitioners.