DUDLEY Council is chasing an eye-watering £20m in unpaid debts owed for more than three months despite battling a financial black hole.

The authority is currently working to balance the books ahead of next year’s budget with a gap of £35m between what it spends and its income.

Despite the financial crisis there are millions of pounds in bills from the council that have been unpaid for more than 90 days.

Dudley’s cabinet member for finance, Councillor Steve Clark, did not explain why the bills have been allowed to build up but says the authority is not alone in having trouble collecting cash.

Cllr Clark said: “Like all local authorities, Dudley Council is sometimes challenged in terms of recovering debt in a timely fashion. 

“The council is reviewing its debt collection arrangements to improve recovery of monies owed.”

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows at the end of September Dudley was owed £12,246,429 in sundry debt that had been outstanding for 90 days or longer.

Sundry debts, or miscellaneous debts, are items which have been invoiced but are not related to council tax or business rates.

Unpaid invoices from the council related to social services add another £6m to the total of missing income with £5,425,454 against residential services and £1,225,720 for non-residential services.

The council also has its work cut out catching up with tenants who don’t cough up, as of October 8 Dudley was actively pursuing £2,144,760 in unpaid rent.

Adding to the accountants’ headaches at the Council House is a further £6,115,966 which the authority says it is owed by the Black Country Integrated Care Board although senior councillors believe a deal to recover the debt is making progress.

Dudley’s Labour spokesman on finance, Cllr Shaukat Ali, said: “The shortfall is £35m, in that context we see how important this debt is, imagine if we had this money, every single penny would make a difference.

“It shows a level of incompetence, I have been asking questions about this for a number of years – every time it has been ignored and no action has been taken.”