Seven councils, who between them have increased the use of Direct Debit among their residents by over 50% in the last year, have been rewarded for their efforts by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), as part of its annual Local Authority Direct Debit Challenge Awards.

The Local Authorities were crowned winners of the 2007 awards at a ceremony held at the Institute of Revenues, Rating & Valuation (IRRV) Annual Conference in Brighton today (11 October 2007).

Rutland County Council; Staffordshire Moorlands District Council; Wear Valley District Council; London Borough of Islington; North Norfolk District Council and Daventry District Council all received a Council Tax Award from Bacs for achieving the highest percentage increase in Direct Debit sign up for Council Tax between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007.

For the Rutland and Staffordshire teams it was a double celebration. Bacs’ Business Rates Award was given to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, recognising the team’s increase in Direct Debit penetration from commercial businesses. And Rutland County Council was presented with the New Entrant Award which is given to councils entering the Bacs Local Authority Challenge programme for the very first time.

The Marketing Campaign Achievement Award winner was Canterbury City Council. Their award recognised an impressive marketing campaign that used innovative and creative ideas, such as holding promotion days at their offices, franking outgoing mail with Direct Debit information plus offering cash incentives and discounts to residents and businesses.

Michael Chambers, managing director of Bacs said: “We are always impressed with the volume and high quality of entries we receive to our awards initiative. The winners this year really stood out and it was clear they had put a lot of effort into increasing their Direct Debit figures. Direct Debit continues to be a payment method favoured by many UK residents and last year 142 million Council Tax and Business Rates payments were made this way. Between them, our winning councils for 2007 have convinced thousands of new people of the benefits of automated payments. Congratulations to each of their teams”.  

New to this year’s awards, two councils also received a Direct Debit Achievement Award in recognition of their continued support and promotion of Direct Debit. Building on their success at last year’s Local Authority Awards, Bassetlaw District Council and Colchester Council have led the way in promoting Direct Debit as the preferred payment method for residents to pay their council tax. In addition, both councils have created a number of initiatives which other Local Authorities have been able to use in their own campaigns including promotional literature.

As part of its programme, Bacs also commended twenty councils stretching from Tyneside to London for their efforts in increasing Direct Debit usage. These included: West Oxfordshire District Council; Vale Royal Borough Council; North Shropshire District Council; Tynedale District Council; Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council; London Borough of Hackney;  Bolton Metropolitan District Council; London Borough of Lambeth; Cannock Chase District Council; Falkirk Council; Bournemouth Borough Council; Lichfield District Council; Macclesfield Borough Council; Vale Royal Borough Council; London Borough of Islington; West Oxfordshire District Council;  Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council; Broadland District Council and North Tyneside Council.

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