No taxpayers' public money has been lost in housing revenue reconciliation

West Berkshire Council is reassuring residents that no money has been lost - or will need to be repaid - in response to reports of a £650,000 overpayment of housing benefits.

The Council has received enquiries from residents concerned that they would face unexpected bills if it sought to reclaim this amount. However, the Council confirms that there is no error in the calculation of both housing benefit paid and rent invoices issued.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Executive on Thursday 3 July and related to how housing benefits payments were processed, with a report noting a £650,000 income pressure in housing rents due to the Council. Unfortunately, a statement made during the debate at that meeting - and subsequently reported in the local media - failed to make clear that the overpayment was accounted for by money held in another finance system.

Unfortunately the statement that "we overpaid residents" and "may well have to take the option to write it off" was incorrect and we are pleased to put that right here.

The Council can confirm that all relevant benefit claims were processed correctly and there was no overpayment to residents claiming housing benefit. In addition, housing rental invoices were also raised correctly. There has been no financial cash loss to either residents or the Council. 

The issue arose because housing benefit was not offset against accruals of housing rental invoices until a major reconciliation exercise was undertaken between the Council's Housing and main accounting software systems. The process has now been revised to make sure that we avoid a repeat of this situation. 

Councillor Iain Cottingham, Executive Member for Finance and Resources, said:  

"People should not be concerned about this issue as neither residents nor the council have suffered any financial loss, and we are pleased to reassure residents about this important fact. We recognise the pressure on household bills for many people receiving housing benefit and my message to them is simple; you don't need to worry about this issue. 

We have also now put in place additional financial controls so that a similar situation does not arise in the future." 

This news release was first published on Wednesday 9 July and was updated on Wednesday 16 July. The earlier version of this news article stated that information reported in the local media was incorrect. The report was based on a statement made at Executive which did not make clear that the overpayment was accounted for by money held in another finance system. We are happy to clarify the situation and allay any concerns which may have arisen.