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.
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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.
