LONDON: Ministers have struck a deal with a private US-owned company in an attempt to collect more than £20bn in debt owed to the exchequer for unpaid taxes and student loans as well as overpaid benefits and grants.
The government is creating a joint venture with TDX Group, a leading “recovery management” company whose parent company, Equifax, is based in the US. TDX will have a 75 percent stake in the new entity, Integrated Debt Services Limited, with the government holding the remainder.
FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web.TDX will receive a proportion of any unpaid debts collected beyond the figure secured in 2013-14. The Cabinet Office would not reveal the percentage to be paid, citing commercial confidentiality.
The move to establish the joint venture is the latest sign of how a smaller and leaner Whitehall is adopting different ways of working in the hunt for big efficiency savings. In the Autumn Statement last month, George Osborne, the chancellor, set a target of an additional £10bn in economies to be achieved by 2017-18.Initial clients will include HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Student Loans Company. The aim is to widen it by bringing in other areas of the public sector, including local government.
