Household billing accuracy and leakage
Billing records may include out-of-date discounts or unbilled properties; a periodic, fair review could recover income while protecting eligible households.
Explore through a lens
Lenses are non-hierarchical. Not every opportunity needs all four.
Fees, charges, leases, lettings, licences, invoicing, arrears, billing, contractual income, pricing and cost recovery.
- Which discount types have not been reviewed recently?
- How are new properties added to the billing base?
Cross-service connections
Revenues & benefits → Planning & building control Shared data
New-build completions affect the billing base.
Revenues & benefits → Housing & homelessness Risk transfer
Aggressive recovery could increase housing pressure — must be monitored.
Rationale
Accurate billing is fair to all taxpayers; recovered income is recurring if the base is maintained.
Inappropriate when…
- Review approach would cause hardship for vulnerable eligible households
- Data use lacks a lawful basis
Evidence required
- Discount population and last review date
- Completions data flow
- Hardship and vulnerability policy
Potential public impacts
- Fairer billing
- Potential distress if reviews are poorly communicated
Statutory & governance checks
Shown for England. No clearance is implied.- Requires validation
Data protection and lawful basis for data use
- Requires validation
Equality impact assessment
- Requires validation
Best Value / value-for-money implications