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‘It’s a slap in the face’: Aberdeenshire Council to write off nearly £300,000 in major salary blunder

Local authority chiefs found that the sum was wrongly paid out to employees over a 14-year period.

Aberdeenshire Council's headquarters Woodhill House in Aberdeen
Aberdeenshire Council will write-off nearly £300k of salary overpayments. Image: Clarke Cooper/DC Thomson

Blundering council officials have been forced to surrender almost £300,000 after overpaying employees for more than a decade

Cash-strapped Aberdeenshire Council has been forced to concede that the staggering sum is “irrecoverable”.

Accountants calculated a loss of £273,728 had built up over 14 years.

They discovered that the cash, which equates to just over £19,500 per year, was paid to employees between 2004 and 2018.

‘Disappointing position’ for Aberdeenshire Council

Members of the business committee were left stunned when asked to write off the sum today.

Council leader Gillian Owen said it was a “disappointing position” for the council to be in, given its dire financial straits.

And she took aim at the workers who failed to point out they pay packets were larger than expected.

“It’s quite disappointing if people are receiving pay that they are not entitled to, and that they feel able to actually keep it,” she said.

“It’s not just a slap in the face to Aberdeenshire Council, it’s a slap in the face to residents because after all it is council tax money as well.”

Aberdeenshire Council leader councillor Gillian Owen. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

Mrs Owen noted that council officers have done “everything in their power” to recover the historic debts.

The Conservative councillor also asked council chiefs for a report on overpayments over the last five years and the process taken to reduce them.

This will be presented to the committee at a later date.

‘Workers maybe too busy to notice’

Leader of the SNP opposition group, Gwyneth Petrie, argued that many workers may have been too busy to notice.

She said: “The amount of people we employ and the fact it relies on information from employees who are busy, we will never be clear of overpayments.

“It’s just an accepted part of being a large employer. The concern is that it has taken nearly 20 years to get to this point.”

How do salary overpayments like this occur?

Overpayments are usually caused by the late submission of paperwork advising of a change to an employee’s circumstances.

This includes a reduction of their working hours, taking into account sickness or maternity leave, or even leaving the job.

Aberdeenshire Council has introduced new measures to help prevent any future overpayments. Image: Shutterstock

If possible, the council recovers some cash from an employee’s future salary payments.

But if a staff member has left the council, an invoice will be issued, but these are not always answered.

Around £160,000 of overpayments are identified annually.

The sum discussed today will be met from the council’s payroll overpayments provision account and will not impact the local authority’s current budget.

Is anything being done to stop this from happening again?

Steps are being taken to reduce the risk of any future overpayments.

A new online portal has been rolled out that will give line managers access to employee HR and payroll data.

This will make it easier for council workers to keep on top of staff administration and reduce any overpayments going forward.

Automated reminder emails have also been introduced to notify managers and employees of upcoming changes to contracts.

Aberdeenshire Council Headquarters, Woodhill House located in Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

This feature would suspend any payments until the terms are confirmed.

Any future debt found to be irrecoverable each year will be recharged back to the service the employee was part of.

‘Absolute eradication would be impossible’

When introducing the paper to committee, Mary Beattie said she was “not comfortable” asking for the large write-off.

While she noted the council was taking measures to reduce salary overpayments, she said “absolute eradication would be impossible” due to the size of the organisation.

She said the council is “going through every single balance sheet line” and accounts would be looked at on a regular basis.

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