Hertfordshire County Council owed more than £50m in overdue debts

Speaking as councillors met to determine the county council’s 2025/6 budget on Tuesday (25 February), Councillor Williams highlighted the level of debt.

In calling for a review of fees and payments to be brought forward as part of the Liberal Democrat Budget proposals Councillor Williams pointed to the need for timely collection.

And he suggested the debt was currently costing the council £5m a year in interest payments.

“As indicated in the Conservative Budget there is scope for a review of fees and charges – and we would bring this proposal forward by a year,” he told the meeting of the full council.

“And whilst on fees and charges, and the debts it creates, that are actually owed to the council, we need to ensure that this debt is collected correctly and timely. Cash is king. And it's currently showing a debt of £98m owed to the council -with over £50m being overdue by more than a month. This debt is costing £5m a year in interest.”

The level of outstanding debt due to the council was published in the council’s latest budget monitoring report, which was presented to a meeting of the council's cabinet earlier on Monday (24 February).

It shows that at the end of December, the county council was owed a total of £98.2m – an increase of £11.9m since the end of September.

Of that £98.2m, £40.5m was reported to be still ‘within payment terms’.

But almost £58m was ‘overdue’ – with £31m of that being nine months or more overdue.

According to the monitoring report the majority of the debt outstanding for nine months or longer – £29.9m – is related to adult care services (ACS) contributions.

The monitor report says these debts can be “challenging and complex” and need to be handled sensitively, which the report says “can take some time to resolve”.

“Large proportions of this amount relate to care related debt that is secured against a person’s home, with additional debt awaiting probate to be granted,” says the report.

“The remainder continues to be chased.

“There is also debt over nine months overdue that relates to invoices with health partners, where regular discussions take place to resolve any outstanding issues.

“The ACS debt position and processes are reviewed regularly at both operational and strategic debt boards within the service.”

According to the report, collection of these debts has improved compared to the same period in 2023/24.

And it says there are a number of people paying through instalments, which it says will take some time to impact on overall levels of debt.

According to the data, of those debts that are outside their payment terms, £7.1m is less than a month overdue and £6m is between one and three months overdue.

A further £13.6m is between three and nine months overdue.

The county council has been approached for comment.