Local Authority Briefing Summer/Autumn 2016

Posted on July 15, 2016 by C M

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

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

Local Authority Forum: Council Tax – changes ahead?

Posted on February 21, 2016 by C M

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 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.

Local Authority Forum – Summer 2015

Posted on October 16, 2015 by C M

Welcome to the Summer 2015 edition of our briefing for our Local Authority clients.

Focusing on the Local Authority Forum held in Edinburgh at the end of May 2015, we were delighted that Judith Hartshorne, DWP, Kelly Jones, Grant Thornton and Chris Batt from the Callcredit Information Group could all participate in this Forum.

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

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

LA Forum Briefing Summer 2015

In this issue:

New Bankruptcy Act: what are the changes and impacts on Local Authorities?
Water Direct Workshop discussion – what’s the position across Scotland and what are the positive and negatives of a combined scheme?
Harnessing the power of insight provided by CallCredit to maximise revenues
Welfare Reform: Summer Budget July 2015 update

Our next Forum is due on 27th October 2015

With talks from Neil Ferguson, Commission on Council Tax Reform, Alan Munro, TLT who will discuss recent insolvency trends and Sharon Bell, Head of Step Change in Scotland. An update will be published on these pages towards the end of 2015.

Local Authority Forum October 2014

Posted on October 28, 2014 by C M

What’s been the impact of Welfare Reform in Scotland and what effects have we still to see?

How can Local Authorities use improved management information, customer profiling data and collection performance intelligence to improve recoveries?

What are the current trends in commercial insolvencies, forthcoming changes in the law – Bankruptcy and Debt Advice Bill (Scotland) – and the recent judgements that local authorities should be aware of?

These are among the questions and issues that delegates at Walker Love’s Local Authority Forum will debate at the Hilton Hotel Dunblane Hydro on 29th October 2014.

The speakers will include:

David Walker, Managing Partner, Walker Love
Peter Meehan, Local Authority Benefit and Taxation Consultant
John McNeill, Director Business Restructure, BDO
Chris Bell, Walker Love
Andy Fraser, Walker Love

With further roundtable discussion sessions chaired by Dorothy Lowe and James Walker of Walker Love, the Forum provides Local Authority revenues and collections teams from across Scotland’s 32 LAs an opportunity to discuss the current issues they are facing. To hear from other authorities on how they are tackling the challenges of Welfare Reform and a reducing local budget and to share opinions and best practice on developing future strategies to improve collections performance.

If you would like more information or if you would like to attend, please get in touch with Chris Bell or Dorothy Lowe, Walker Love in the first instance.

Walker Love at the CSA DBSG Annual Conference 2013

Posted on September 20, 2013 by C M

The Credit Services Association (CSA) is the National Association in the UK for companies active in relation to unpaid credit accounts, debt recovery agencies, tracing and allied professional services, and the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group (DBSG), held their annual conference and exhibition on September 18th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel next to Heythrop Park in Oxford.

This year’s conference themes included regulation and compliance, commercial collections and debt sale and purchase. Delegates discussed issues such as fraud prevention, funding for debt purchase, treating customers fairly and online communications.

David Walker, Managing Partner, Walker Love gave delegates an overview of the changes and developments in the Scottish courts, litigation and enforcement, as well as the facts on the ground when it comes to deciding on the best recovery approach and collecting debts in Scotland.

The conference was also be addressed by Yvonne Fovargue MP, Gillian Guy CEO CAB and Simon Jack, Business & Economics editor, BBC Radio 4.

For more information visit the CSA’s website.

University of Strathclyde Law Clinic

Posted on December 4, 2012 by C M

Walker Love experts host a well received session on the increasingly important task of enforcing court judgements. The session which took place earlier in 2012 was hosted by Chris Bell and Angus MacKinnon of Walker Love.

The Law Clinic was launched in October 2003 in order to provide free legal assistance to people in Glasgow and the surrounding area who are unable to obtain legal assistance through other means.

The Clinic is intended to be complementary to existing legal services provided by lawyers and other agencies such as Citizens’ Advice Bureaux. The Law Clinic is part of the University of Strathclyde Law School. It was established and is overseen by Professor Donald Nicolson, who has extensive experience in law clinic work, both as a student advisor and founder of the University of Bristol Law Clinic.

Local Authority Forum 2012

Posted on October 30, 2012 by C M

The Forum is designed to provide local authorities with an opportunity to meet and discuss the key issues impacting the collection of local taxes and non-domestic rates. The Forum also looks at the innovative debt recovery approaches which are being taken in other local authority areas in the UK and in the private sector.

The Forum’s aim is to share ideas, knowledge and experiences and to help our local authorities’ clients to improve their debt recovery approaches, processes and techniques.

With comment and presentations from Walker Love’s partners and a selection of guest speakers, the Forum takes place on a regular basis at a convenient central Scotland location.

The most recent Forum focused on the outcome of the consultation on Bankruptcy Law Reform and the potential impact of the issues arising from the impending Universal Credit legislation and implementation in 2013.

The speakers included:

Claire Orr, AiB Executive Director of Policy and Compliance
Robin Haynes, Local Government Division, Scottish Government
Peter Meehan, Local Authority benefit and taxation consultant

If you would like to find out more about taking part in future forums please contact Chris Bell, Partner in the first instance.