SCOTTISH Borders Council was forced to write off debts amounting to £657,000 in the last financial year, senior councillors will be informed next week.

The corporate debts include council tax, non-domestic rates, sundry debtors, housing benefit overpayments and aged debt from the balance sheet in 2023/24.

Included in the write-offs was £409k of unpaid council tax, members of the council’s Executive Committee will be informed when they meet on Tuesday, June 11.

The latest figure is fractionally less than the £662k forced to be written-off in 2022/23.

In all cases, a debt will only be written off when at least one of the following occurs:

• Legislation prevents its recovery;

• It is uneconomic to pursue;

• The debtor becomes insolvent;

• All options of recovery have been exhausted, which includes the use of the council’s legal team and the appointed sheriff officers, Walker Love.

In a report to next week’s Executive Committee, Suzy Douglas, the local authority’s director of finance and procurement, says: “The highest value of write-offs for council tax in 2023/24 is within the deceased category where the estate has confirmed there are no funds available to recover the sums due.”