A report before the council’s audit committee said staff
were paid £54,429 more than they should have been.
But compared to the total wage bill for the county last year
of £93.079 million the overpayments represented a small amount of money.
The biggest reasons for overpaying was when an employee had
a change in employment but the payroll department had not been informed in time
to avoid making a payment or paying more than was owed.
The report said: “Overpayments are a direct financial loss
to the Council and reversing payments and dedicating efforts to identify and
reprocess overpayments is an inefficient use of resources for the Council and
Payroll Team. In 2016/17 gross salaries paid to CCBC employees through the
system totalled £93.079 million, and net overpayments for the same period
amounted to £54,429.
“Analysis showed of 102 outstanding / repaid overpayments
(as at September 2017), late notification to Payroll of changes of
circumstances and leavers was the primary reason for overpayment. 58 originated
from Education Services, 30 from Social Services and the remainder from other
services.”
The problem of overpayments where a staff member had left
the council can result in legal action being taken, meaning that often the
council would not recoup the amount it has lost.
The report added: “Overpayments to leavers are dealt with
via Sundry Debtor invoices, which are raised for immediate payment. Debtors are
able to agree a repayment plan with the team in cases of hardship. Repayment
agreements that exceed the maximum five year repayment period are not reviewed
on an annual basis.
“Where agreements repeatedly fail, the team can, and do,
escalate to third party collection agents or the courts. The courts often order
repayment at a lower amount for the duration of the agreement.”
Pentre Mawr councillor, Sam Rowlands, the Cabinet member
responsible for finance and resources said: “It is disappointing that we have
had £54,000 worth of overpayments through 2016/17, this though must be seen in
the context of £93million of salary payments and equates to over 99.95 per cent
of salary being paid correctly. Nonetheless, we will continue to work with our
schools and other services to remove errors in notification of leavers and
change in circumstances of staff. I am pleased that the Council’s Audit and
Governance Committee noted the report and support the action plan we have
instigated to minimise any future loss.”
