Glasgow City Council write off £2.8m debts after covering demolition cost

Glasgow council bosses wrote off debts of £2.8 million last year as a councillor demands a breakdown of the figure.

An audit report presented to councillors made two recommendations to improve how the process for writing off debt works at the council.

Councillor Jim Kavanagh called for more information on what the debt was for and raised the issue of costs being recovered for the fire-ravaged Victoria’s night club in Sauchiehall Street.

During a discussion about the debt at a meeting, councillor Jim Kavanagh said: “The total debt written off amounts to £2.816 million.

“We don’t know the breakup of that. All we know is the figure.”

He raised the demolition of Victoria’s nightclub in 2018, which the council had to pay for, as well as the India Buildings in Bridge Street last year.

Bailie Kavanagh said the cost was “never” recovered for Victoria’s asking: “Is that debt written off?”

An official said she didn’t have the specific information to hand, but said the council still pursues debts even if they are written off.

Officers agreed to provide councillor Kavanagh with the information privately.

Two recommendations for improvement of the process were presented to last week’s finance and audit scrutiny committee.

One of the changes will involve documentation of the do-not-write-off criteria and the sharing of the criteria with staff.

The £2.816m was written off in the financial year 2024 to 2025.