Auditors find errors in Wolverhampton benefit payments
More than a quarter of housing and council tax benefit payments in Wolverhampton checked by auditors were found to contain errors, it has emerged.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers have charged the city council £46,926, almost double last year's fee, for auditing the payments after 28 per cent of 231 payments checked in a randomly selected sample contained mistakes.
The finance spokesman for the opposition Conservative party hit out at what she called "incompetence" during a meeting of Wolverhampton City Council's audit committee.
Councillor Wendy Thompson said: "The money we paid to PWC at least appears to have been well spent as this is exactly the sort of thing they should pick up. But some incompetence appears to have been shown."
The council paid out £140 million in housing benefit and council tax benefit over the past 12 months.
PWC found the council had made nine errors involving child tax credits on council tax benefits claims and 18 errors involving working tax credits and child tax credits in housing benefit claims.
PWC tested 231 cases and in a report justified its higher fee saying it was due to "significant increase in the level of work required."
The council has to have its Government funding checked over by external auditors every year.
