North Lanarkshire Council writes off £163,000 in care and social work debt

North Lanarkshire Council has written off £163,000 in debts relating to its adult care and social work services.

The local authority charges for accommodation in nursing and residential homes and community alarms.

It also sends invoices to organisations such as other councils and universities.

During the financial year 2024/2025 it issued a total of £108m in invoices.

The amount written off relates to debts where the debtor has died without sufficient funds to pay the debt, small amounts where it is not considered economical to further pursue the debt, the debtor has moved and cannot be located, all attempts to recover the debt have already been exhausted or the debtor has entered sequestration or liquidation.

Almost all of the debts involved were for amounts of less than £500 with more than 7,000 such instances while there were only ten cases where the amount in question was greater than this.