We were set up in 2015 following an open procurement for a Debt Market Integrator (DMI) that would “establish a government debt management function that is consistent with best practice, departmental strategic objectives and government priorities, and is effective, efficient and fair in its delivery”.
Indesser CEO, Rhona Parry tells the story of Indesser.
Successful implementation of fair and effective debt management strategies across different public sector organisations has been made possible by:
1. Establishing an ‘end-to-end’ approach to managing debt owed to government
2. Developing a robust understanding of government debt
3. Driving greater use of data and analytics, to maximise the effectiveness of debt management
4. Using examples of best practice to develop standards and guidance to drive excellence across government.
The National Audit Office recently estimated that debt owed to government exceeds £13.6 billion*, originating from many sources including benefits and tax credit overpayments, Council Tax arrears, rent arrears to local authorities as well as debts resulting from fines and loans. It is our job to help the public sector prevent and recover as much of this debt as possible.
As Indesser are the single point of access for the public sector to use private sector specialists, we can apply learnings across all our clients in order to optimise processes, further improving their efficiency and achieving better and fairer outcomes.
Since our set-up we have achieved the following:
- Engaged with 56 central and local government organisations
- Taken 12.1 million accounts under management, with a total debt value of more than £12.1 billion
- Delivered our data, analytics and services to over 7,000 users
- Collected over £2.3 billion of debt,
- Achieved an increase in collection rates ranging between 20% and 40%
Indesser Chair, Andy Briscoe reveals the importance of the joint-venture with the Cabinet Office
The DMI Framework Agreement:
The DMI Framework Agreement provides public sector organisations - including government departments, local authorities and NHS Trusts - with a single route to access the best available private sector data and capabilities. Products and services can be ‘called off’ without the need for lengthy and expensive procurement processes. Furthermore, prices are based on the processing we perform across all of our clients, not just each individual client. This approach leverages collective government buying power, drives down the costs and is open and transparent to all.
*Source: National Audit Office, "Tackling Problem Debt", September 2018