ACCOUNTANTS at Scottish Borders Council have written off more than £700,000 of council tax, rates and other debts over the past year.

And there is still a further £1million of bad debt on the books which is highly unlikely to be ever recovered.

Over the past 12 months the amount of unpaid bills has soared - and the local authority is blaming some of the massive hike on the growing number of insolvency cases in the region.

During 2017/18 the debts which were written off mounted to just over £250,000.

But this past year, up to April, the unpaid red letters have increased almost three-fold.

Some of the increase is down to a back-log of bills being processed.

But there has also been a significant rise in insolvency - from 191 cases in 2017/18 to 533 during 2018/19.

Philip Brand, team leader with credit control at the local authority, stated: "The value of council tax write-offs processed within 2018/19 has increased significantly in comparison to last year.

"In 2017/18 the amount written off was unusually low as a result of a reduced number of cases being processed but also a reduction in the individual case value.

"It was expected that the level of write offs would increase significantly in 2018/19 as a result of addressing the backlog of cases to be cleared and ensuring ongoing works were maintained.

"The highest value of write-offs for council tax in 2018/19 continues to be within the category where the liable party has become insolvent."

Last year a total of £433,000 worth of council tax and £219,000 of sundry debts were written off.

Council tax, rates and sundry debts are only written off if legislation prevents its recovery, it becomes uneconomic to pursue the debtors, the debtor becomes insolvent, or recovery options through the in-house legal team and sheriff officers have been exhausted.

Despite last year's write-offs Scottish Borders Council is still currently owed in the region of £1.7 million in sundry debts.

And it is expected that much of the outstanding balance due - with £1.1 million already classed as bad debt - will also be written off in the coming years.

Katrina Wilkinson, revenues lead officer at SBC, added: "It is expected that the level of debts written off in 2019/20 will be comparable to 2018/19 due to continued heightened risk factors.

"Performance in this area continues to be closely monitored and management action, including the approved policy on debt recovery and supporting procedures, are in place to minimise risk."