Tonbridge and Malling Recommends New Debt Recovery Policy and £270,000 for Poult Wood Heat Pumps

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council's Finance, Regeneration and Property Scrutiny Select Committee met at the Council Chamber in Kings Hill on Tuesday 15 September, and the minutes - published this week - show members recommending real spending decisions to Cabinet rather than just noting progress reports.

The headline item: the council has some unexpected extra money, and members have recommended two ways to spend it. New businesses opening up in the borough have generated a further £270,000 in business rates on top of what was originally budgeted for - so the committee wants to put that towards new, greener heating (air source heat pumps) at Poult Wood Golf Club, reasoning that Kent County Council has already treated similar leisure investment elsewhere as good value for the local economy. Separately, because more local businesses want in on the council's Green Business Grant scheme than there's currently funding for, members recommended freeing up an extra £15,000 to support the next round of applicants.

On debt recovery, the committee recommended approving an updated Corporate Debt Recovery Policy for publication - the first full revision since January 2022. In plain terms: the council is now setting out, for the first time, how it will chase unpaid garden waste subscriptions and unpaid rent from people in homeless temporary accommodation, alongside its existing rules on council tax and other arrears. Residents will also be able to pay for garden waste by recurring card payment rather than only by direct debit. The homelessness rent-arrears process is still being worked out and won't be finalised until early 2027 - members want to see it again before it goes to Cabinet.

The bottom line on the council's own finances: everything looks healthy. Spending is running about £66,000 under budget for the year so far, and the council remains completely debt-free, with no plans to borrow unless a major project genuinely needs it - which isn't currently the case.

Both the Business Rates Pool reallocation and the new Debt Recovery Policy now go forward as recommendations for Cabinet to formally approve. Source: Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council