Wirral Council has been challenged on why it failed to notice it spent £200,000 by mistake.
The local authority accidentally made a double payment of £200,000 to an authorised contractor. It was then notified by the contractor who immediately returned the money.
A review of the lead-up to this payment in October and December 2022 found “the audit identified a number of actions required to improve controls in operation to prevent any future incidents.”
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The report added: “It should be noted that no evidence of any fraudulent activity was identified” but added there were potentially more duplicate payments being examined by the council’s Internal Audit team. These were found after new software was brought in.
Cllr Sue Powell-Wilde said: “Why did we have to wait for the creditor to notify us? Why wasn’t it picked up? Was it a user error or was it a software error?”
She wanted assurances action was being taken and asked why the new software being brought in to spot incorrect payments wasn’t already in place.
Mark Niblock, who leads the council’s Internal Audit service, said the contractor had sent the council two invoices which went to two different departments and this was the reason why two payments were made.
Mr Niblock said the new systems allowed the council to crunch “a lot of data” and “the controls we’ve put in place are very much replicated within the new systems that are coming online.” He said the new controls would be “a lot more robust and effective.”
The local authority’s Internal Audit department looks at council finances, risks the council faces, as well as general functions of the council. Recently it found that councillors were aware of legal risks before signing onto plans for a £190m golf resort in Hoylake.
Councillors also decided to write to the government to ask what’s happening with a stalling cinema scheme in Hoylake that was funded with taxpayers’ money.
Shaer Halewood, the council’s Director of Resources, had previously asked for an update on the scheme but had not got a response.
Councillor Tony Cox, who represents Hoylake and Meols, also asked for data on cycle lanes and how much they are being used. He said he needed to see evidence that active transport infrastructure, which is funded by the UK Government, was “getting people out of the car.”
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