Nearly £360,000 of business rates debt owed to Salford council - mostly as a result of firms going bust during the Covid-19 pandemic - has been written off. Some £288,000 went unpaid by a total of 36 firms which became insolvent while two companies "absconded" without coughing up a total of £70,000.
Jane Betts, Salford's service manager for business rates, told a lead member for finance and support services briefing that the authority was always attempting to recover balances, but went on to say: "There are occasions where it's uneconomical and debt needs to be written off on the grounds of efficiency".
She said the cases of bankruptcy "corresponded" to the period of the pandemic over the last two years. The amount written off amounted to 0.5 per cent of the total amount invoiced to businesses in Salford, said Ms Betts.
