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Local Authority Forum Winter 2017

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Welcome to the latest edition of our briefing for Scottish Local Authorities.

Click here to download a digital pdf

This edition focuses on the Local Authority Forum held in November 2017.

We were delighted that Mark Ranson and Steven Wright from Armstrong Watson, Chartered Accountants, Business and Financial Advisers; David McKenzie, Co-founder of Occutrace and Cheryl Hynd from the City of Edinburgh Council could join us on the day.

Each of the guest speakers provided a range of insights and informative talks which the Local Authority delegates discussed during the workshop discussion session.

Issues covered during the sessions and featured in this edition included

Click on the links above to download a pdf to read on your desktop, tablet or mobile

Walker Love Local Authority Forum

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Local Authority Briefing Summer 2017

This edition focuses on the Local Authority Forum which was held at the end of May 2017.

Click here to download a digital pdf

We were delighted to be joined by Neale Tosh and Adam McCabe from Brodies, Fergus Walker from Argyll & Bute Council and Alex Reid from the Accountant in Bankruptcy.

Each of the guest speakers provided a range of insights and informative talks which the Local Authority delegates discussed during the workshop discussion session.

Issues discussed at the Forum and featured in this edition include:

  • Update on the proposed changes to the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973
  • The recent AiB consultation on Diligence, trends in bankruptcy and a guest article from Fiona Wilson, DAS team leader, AiB which covers the AiB’s engagement strategy.
  • Argyll & Bute Council’s strategy to tackle the housing shortage in the area
  • Walker Love’s new west coast diligence centre
  • LA Forum – delegates views on the impact of the increase in Council Tax charges

Click here to download an interactive pdf to read on your PC, tablet or mobile.

New West Coast Diligence Centre

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We are pleased  to  announce,  that  in  line  with  our strategic business plan, our new West Coast Diligence Centre opened for business in January of this year.

Located at number 1 Smithhills Street, Paisley, PA1 1EB, this attractive and modern office facility is the perfect base for our West Coast Citation & Diligence operations.

By establishing   this   new   unit,   we   have   now consolidated most of our West Coast Sheriff Officer services, by  bringing  together  personnel  from  our former Hamilton, Dumbarton and Paisley offices, whilst also relocating personnel from our HQ in Glasgow.

We are confident that our new base of operation will provide enhanced levels of service delivery for  the benefit of all clients and other stakeholders.

In  addition  to  housing  our  West  Coast  Diligence personnel,  our  Summary  Warrant  Operations  Team (SWOT), including Officers and support personnel are also now co-located and better connected, which will result in greater operational efficiency.

Other support teams have also relocated, including our Investigations team and HR personnel, who now have the use of a dedicated, modern training suite.

As an IIP company, we want to provide the very best working environment for our personnel, who are the critical X Factor when delivering highly professional Sheriff Officer service. So far, staff feedback has been very positive.

Going forward, we have ample room for growth and it is our intention to establish a full backup Contact Centre to support our BCP, whilst also providing overflow space for our Glasgow based contact centre.

David Walker, Managing Partner, remarked that, “We are very excited about our New West Coast Diligence Operation, this project has enabled us to consolidate our west coast Sheriff Officer and Support Resource, which now enables  us  to  deliver  an  even  more  efficient  and professional Citation and Diligence service for the benefit of all clients, whilst also providing our people with the modern and comfortable working space they deserve.”

Local Authority Briefing Autumn-Winter 16/17

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Welcome to the latest edition of our briefing for Scottish Local Authorities.

Click here to download a digital pdf

This edition focuses on the Local Authority Forum held in November 2016.

We were delighted that Jim McCafferty, Immediate Past President of the IRRV, Ross Nicol, Partner, McLay Murray & Spens and Kelly Quigley, AIB Head of DAS and Trust Deeds, could join us on the day.

Each of the guest speakers provided a range of insights and informative talks which the Local Authority delegates discussed during the workshop discussion session.

Issues covered during the sessions included the challenges faced by Local Authorities in delivering local services, the impact of the GDPR (the replacement for the Data Protection Act 1998) which will come into force in May 2018, and the current DAS caseload and the improvements to the scheme that are in the pipeline.

Click on the links below to download a pdf to read on your desktop, tablet or mobile

 

Walker Love Local Authority Forum

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Walker Love’s Local Authority Forum provides Local Authority debt collection and recovery teams an opportunity to hear from keynote speakers on legal, regulatory, policy and procedural developments that will, or could, have an impact on their debt collection and recovery strategies and operations.

The Forum also provides delegates an opportunity to get together to share, discuss and develop solutions to common issues, problems and challenges faced in the collection and recovery of monies rightfully owed to Scottish Local Authorities.

With insights provided by Walker Love partners, professional advisers, senior civil servants and money advice experts, as well featuring regular case studies and examples of best practice from debt collection managers from Local Authorities and commercial debt recovery organisations, the Forum takes place twice per year.

Click on the title links below to read past editions of our Local Authority Briefings, which provides delegates with a summary of the key issues, presentations and output from the discussion workshops at each Forum.

LA Briefing Winter 2018 LA Briefing Winter 2018 LA Briefing Summer 2018 LA Briefing Winter 14-15 LA Briefing Summer 2014 LA Briefing Summer 2013

Local Authority Briefing Summer/Autumn 2016

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Walker Love Local Authority Briefing

Welcome to the latest edition of our briefing for Scottish Local Authorities.

Click here to download a copy

Focusing on the Local Authority Forum held in June 2016, we were delighted that Yvonne MacDermid, Money Advice Scotland, Gary Weir, Glasgow City Council and Carol Kirk from the Accountant in Bankruptcy could join us on the day.

Each of  guest presenters delivered a very informative presentation with a  range of insights and discussion points, including Treating Vulnerable Clients Fairly, the new Bankruptcy legislation and the experiences so far, and improving collection rate performance and sharing best practice.

Click on any of the links below to download a pdf to read on your desktop, tablet device or mobile.

Data Protection: Know the facts
MAS: Treating vulnerable clients fairly – what needs to be done?
New legisaltion in Scotland and what’s on the AIB’s agenda 2016/17?
Working in partnership with Walker Love: Glasgow City Council case study

Walker Love receives full FCA Authorisation

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Walker Love has become the first firm of Sheriff Officers & Debt Recovery specialists in Scotland to receive full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carry out financial services debt recovery activity throughout the UK.

“Receiving FCA authorisation is another significant milestone for Walker Love and we were delighted to be the first firm in Scotland to achieve fully authorised status. As Officers of the Court responsible for enforcing the civil law in Scotland, treating customers fairly whilst safeguarding an individual’s dignity and legal rights is in our DNA.

It has always been our ethos to discharge our duties fairly and impartially, so it wasn’t a giant leap for us to go through the rigorous application process, whereby we were required to openly demonstrate our robust oversight and governance framework, in order to receive our FCA licence”, commented David Walker, Managing Partner of Walker Love.

This award follows on from the firm successfully gaining Silver Investors in People (IIP) status at the end of 2015, augmenting other industry quality standards the firm has been awarded, including the coveted UKAS ISO27001 and ISO9001 standards for information security and quality assurance.

“We service a wide range of Local Authorities, Government agencies, financial services organisations and firms of solicitors both in Scotland and in England & Wales. By being awarded our FCA licence, it provides our clients with an added level of assurance and confidence, especially when they are dealing with regulated financial products and vulnerable individuals”.

The FCA came into force on 1 April 2013 and regulates UK firms providing financial services to consumers, having taken over responsibility for regulating the consumer credit industry from the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April 2014.

Walker Love Local Authority Forum Summer 2016

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Walker Love’s Local Authority Forum provides finance and debt collection professionals an opportunity to get together to discuss the main issues impacting the collection of monies owed to Local Authorities.

The Forum also provides Local Authority delegates an opportunity to share best practice and to discuss legislative developments and the potential impact on Authorities current and future collection and debt recovery strategies.

The Forum takes place on 7th June at Houstoun House Hotel, Livingston and will be hosted by David Walker, Chris Bell, Dorothy Lowe and James Walker from Walker Love, and the following guest speakers:

  • Dr Richard Dennis, The Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive; and Carol Kirk, Policy Team Leader will provide an update on the strategic policies and post implementation review of Bankruptcy and Diligence legislation.
  • Yvonne MacDermid, Chief Executive, Money Advice Scotland (MAS), will provide a talk on their financial capability work and the role of MAS.
  • Gary Weir, Service Delivery Manager, Glasgow City Council will discuss the Council’s recovery strategies and joint working initiatives with Walker Love.

With a workshop discussion on the practical implications for Local Authorities arising from the AIB policy chaired by Walker Love Partners, the session begins at 9.15am and runs until 1.30pm.

If you would like to attend, please do get in touch with Chris Bell or Dorothy Lowe, Walker Love. We would be delighted to hear from you.

 

Evolution of Customer Service Technologies

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Andy Fraser, Contact Centre Manager, Walker Love recently took part in a discussion on the development of customer contact technologies which was chaired by independent business journalist Sue Tabbitt for My Customer, an online community of customer service, CRM and customer experience professionals.

The expert panel looked at the evolution of digital communications technologies and how they are improving existing customer service channels and creating new ways to engage, interact and to meet rising customer expectations relating to experience and convenience.

Andy Fraser commented “it’s important for Walker Love competitively that our clients can see we’re at the forefront of customer engagement practice – using the latest techniques and employing all of the available channels to reach all of the target demographics – that’s an important driver for improvement.”

Are rapidly evolving communication technologies a help or a hindrance, or even an annoyance? What does the next big thing in customer engagement look like, will we finely give up the desktop and all move to mobile and is the customer service industry keeping pace?

You can read the whole discussion and contribute your views by visiting My Customer.com >read more.

Local Authority Forum: Council Tax – changes ahead?

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Walker Love LA Briefng Winter 15-16Welcome to the latest edition of our briefing for Scottish Local Authorities.

Click here to download a copy

Focusing on the Local Authority Forum held the end of October 2015, we were delighted that Neil Ferguson, from the Secretariat of the Commission on Local Tax Reform, Alan Munro, Partner at TLT LLP and Sharon Bell from StepChange Debt Charity could join us on the day.

Each of  guest presenters delivered a very informative presentation with a  range of insights, discussion points and ideas on how to improve collection performance and maximise revenues in the year ahead and the latest thinking on Council Tax reform.

The briefing provides a summary of the key issues and discussion points. Click on any of the links below to download the interactive pdf to read on your desktop, tablet device or mobile.