New methods of chasing £15.8m worth of debt owed to Oxford City Council have been agreed, following criticism from the District Auditor.

The council's performance in collecting unpaid rent, council tax and overpaid housing benefit had been deemed poor, so executive board members on January 5 agreed a new debt collection policy.

This includes setting realistic targets for the coming year for the amount of debt that should be recovered in different areas in the next 12 months and beyond. In the past year, the council reduced the total debt by £2.7m.

Jim Campbell, Liberal Democrat chairman of the finance scrutiny committee urged council leaders to employ a full-time member of staff to work on tenants' arrears. At the moment, the post is part-time.

He added: "We do need to put measures in place to make sure we improve.

"Chasing former tenants for rent over a long period is not cost-effective, but we need to try to anticipate problems before they arise."

Strategic director Mark Luntley told councillors that the Aggresso computer system would be updated to ensure that debtors who owed more than one section of the council were identified and targeted as a priority.

Alex Hollingsworth, leader of the council, added: "This policy is all about catching people early and co-ordinating that.

"We also need to chase debt before it gets too big."