Our Revenues and Benefits team

Revenues team

Our revenues team is responsible for administering and collecting Council Tax and Business Rates income due to the Council.

The team play a vital role in the running of the council by ensuring we receive the income needed to fund local services by managing the collection of these vital revenues effectively and efficiently.

The team includes a Revenues Manager, Billing and Recovery Team Leaders, Senior Officers and Officers for both council tax and business rates.

The variety of roles makes this a great team to build your career in.

You do not need previous experience in revenues, many skills are transferable.

These include:

• good communication and negotiation skills
• the ability to work independently and meet targets
• the ability to manage large volumes of detailed work to tight deadlines
• confident use of Office 365
• strong organisational and time management skills

Key tasks and responsibilities in the Revenues team include:

Billing and collection

Sending council tax and business rates bills and collecting payments.

Watch Nicola, a Senior Billing Officer, explain more about her role and what it involves.

Account management

Setting up, updating and maintaining accurate records of taxpayers and their accounts.

Discounts and exemptions

Determining eligibility for and administering council tax and business rates reductions, exemptions, and other reliefs.

Recovery and arrears

Taking action to recover unpaid council tax and business rates. This can include sending recovery notices, arranging liability order hearings, setting up attachments of earnings or benefits (for council tax) and working with enforcement agents.

Hear from Jody, a Senior Business Rates Recovery Officer about what her role involves.

Customer Service

Responding to enquiries, giving advice about payments, and helping to resolve issues with council tax and business rates.

Natasha, one of our Customer Service Officers, talks about helping customers and what she enjoys about the role.

Liasion

Working with other council departments, external agencies, and enforcement agents.

Inspections

Our Inspection Officers visit properties across West Northamptonshire to gather accurate information. They inspect homes, business premises, and new developments. This includes taking photographs, confirming eligibility for reliefs and exemptions, checking property changes and issuing completion notices.

This work helps to maximise the council tax and business rates base, and supports growth forecasting.

Benefits team

The team assess claims, work out how much support someone can get and make sure payments are made on time.

They also give advice to help residents understand their benefits, apply for support and deal with any overpayments passed on by Customer Services.

What the team does:

• assessing claims by looking at applications for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments help people on low incomes with housing costs, especially in times of financial hardship
• give advice while Customer Services handle initial queries, the benefits team also help people understand what support they can get and how to manage their claims

Other roles

Our Debt and Money Advice Officers are trained to give clear, practical advice on managing money and budgeting. They can also help with debt options and negotiate payment plans.

The team works closely with partner organisations to offer wider support that complements the financial help we provide.

Our Overpayments team recovers any Housing Benefit that has been overpaid, while the Subsidy team checks that payments are made correctly.

We also have a Quality Assurance team. They carry out regular checks to make sure our work is accurate and that residents get the best possible service.

Last updated 29 October 2025