Royal Borough Conservatives lose £1million in Housing Benefit
The Conservative led Royal Borough has lost nearly £1m in overpaid housing benefit in the last six months.
According to the Windsor Express, the council has paid out £980,000 in undue housing benefits since the start of the current financial year.
The excess payments included £498,000 due to claimant errors, £329,000 believed to be due to deliberate fraud, £48,000 due to the council's own mistakes and £105,000 in other errors.
Although the borough has already recovered £440,000 and says it is looking at improving its systems, the figures do not even meet the recovery targets the Conservatives have set themselves.
The council also overpaid £2,166,000 last year, in which it issued £36m of housing benefit. It is yet to recover £671,000 of these incorrect payments.
Quoted in the Windsor Express, a Conservative spokesman said their focus was on ensuring outstanding overpayments are 'recovered as swiftly as possible'.
"It is important that those who are entitled to benefits receive and are paid the correct amount," he added.
Speaking for the Local Lib Dems Julian Tisi said "If a commercial company lost 7% of its money, heads would roll, given the Conservatives' enthusiasm for extending a business like approach to the council, we look forward to the swift sacking of the Borough's cabinet member for finance."
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