Liberata IRRV Annual Conference roundup

Our employee Steve Rybaruk shares his thoughts on the recent IRRV Annual Conference [7-8 October 2024].

Just got back from the amazing IRRV Annual Conference with Liberata, and what an experience it was. We were nominated for five IRRV awards—even though we didn’t win this time, making it to the finals in so many categories was a huge achievement. It was great celebrating our work with partners like Devon County Council, Brent Council, and Swindon Borough Council. Some standouts from being awards finalists were:

  • Working with Devon County Council to revoke 1,071 ineligible Single Person Discounts, generating £558,702 in additional revenue.
  • Helping Brent Council unlock £9 million through smart strategies like maximising the New Homes Bonus and reviewing Business Rate claims.
  • Supporting Swindon Borough Council in automating 55% of their revenues and benefits work, resulting in 34% savings and improving new claims processing to under 10 days.

The exhibition hall was buzzing, and our stand had a lot of footfall. Special shoutout to the awesome magician Jordan O’Grady for keeping everyone entertained. We had some great conversations about how we’re helping councils tackle budget deficits and boost revenues—topics that are clearly top of mind for many.

We also talked a lot about debt recovery—many councils are sitting on static debt, which only gets harder to collect as time goes on. At Liberata, we take a softer, more customer-friendly approach to tackling debt. It’s all about helping councils recoup what’s owed and reinvest in vital services.

If you’re interested in how Liberata can help your council reduce budget deficits and boost collections, get in touch.

About Steve Rybaruk

Steve joined Liberata in 2003 and has over 25 years of experience in the Revenues and Assessment field in both the public and private sectors. He is a key member of the Senior Management Team, leading the Revenues and Assessments Solutions and Innovation functions. Steve is responsible for the Future Operating Model, service strategy, and benchmarking programme, ensuring cost-effective and high-value solutions for local government clients.

Get in touch with Steve steven.rybaruk@liberata.com

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As a Council we are focused on ensuring that the services delivered are both sustainable and of the highest quality. We are delighted to be working with Liberata to help deliver these services on behalf of our residents and businesses. Liberata stood out with its ability to drive transformational change and improve customer access and digital services.
Richard Baker
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Borough of Broxbourne
Liberata is the ideal delivery partner to help us achieve our aims, whilst ensuring we can drive down processing times and improve the service for our customers. Council tax and business rates collection will improve, ensuring that we have the funds to deliver the vital services that have a positive impact on residents’ lives. We look forward to working closely in partnership with Liberata to help achieve our aims
Rebecca Keene
Broxbourne Borough Council
Eastleigh Borough Council has worked with Liberata for a number of years who undertake the council's empty home reviews, and I must say, their service exceeded all expectations. From start to finish, they demonstrated professionalism, efficiency, and a genuine commitment to addressing this critical issue in our community. Thanks to Liberata, the council has been able to maximise our empty home bonus year on year. This positive impact on our community cannot be overstated.
Kerrie Thomas
Eastleigh Borough Council
The RV Finder service from Liberata has really helped us ensure that our data is as accurate as possible and, when the VOA has processed the outstanding cases, I fully expect to see more than £1,000,000 of additional RV. The “risk and reward” model works well and the Council only has to pay for their success and the service is something that we will use on a regular basis.
Steve King
Leicester City Council
Liberata has been empowered to create a seamless integration with technology to digitally transform the Revenues and Benefits service whilst trying to protect local jobs. The joint strategy has helped to deliver innovative solutions that have exceeded expectations, whilst providing savings to the authority. This surge in digital engagement has helped deliver strong year one outturn with electronic billing and the technology will enable us to show improvements in the benefits speed of processing and in Council Tax processing of moves, discounts and exemptions.
Andy Stevens
Swindon Borough Council
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