West Mids council staff overpaid by £300,000 in a year
Payroll errors by councils in the West Midlands led to more than £300,000 being overpaid to staff in a year, figures showed today.
Authorities made more than 800 accidental overpayments in the 2011/12 financial year and, while most of the money has been recovered, some are still chasing substantial sums. Staffordshire County Council overpaid staff on 318 occasions to the tune of £155,149 in 2011/12.
It has been left still chasing up to £86,000 dating back to 2008, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Dudley Council made 189 overpayments last year worth £95,298.70 and has had to write off nine cases, losing £2,095.17.
Wolverhampton City Council admitted it had overpaid its staff on 203 occasions but was unable to reveal the figure, explaining that "our reporting tools and the way that the system is set up does not allow us to easily extract this information".
Walsall Council invoiced 67 people after they had left the employment of the authority to reclaim £42,226.69.
It recovered £13,118.77 from 13 people still on the payroll but was left chasing around £17,900. Lichfield overpaid two staff to the tune of £448.48 and recovered £169.79 while Cannock Chase District Council made one overpayment of £38.18, which was recovered.
Wyre Forest District Council made 10 overpayments and believes it is still owed £94.
Councillor Wendy Thompson, opposition Conservative finance spokesman in Wol-verhampton, said: "Councils need to be running an efficient payroll system so that people paying their council tax know that their money is being looked after carefully."
The figures have emerged as councils across the region are dealing with millions of pounds in funding cuts, with the cost of services all under scrutiny.
