Councillors in Reading have been discussing why an error in sums led to a massive £1 million overpayment to one of its adult social care providers.

The overpayment occurred because a council employee incorrectly calculated an inflation increase in June last year.

The £1 million was only recovered after the care provider noticed the error and paid the council back in full.

The overpayment was discussed at a meeting of the council’s audit and governance committee yesterday (Tuesday, January 25), where councillors received a report from Paul Harrington, the council’s chief auditor, on what measures will be taken to prevent incidents like it happening again.

Members also reacted to the payment blunder.

READ MORE: Police boss grilled in Reading over priorities and funding reductions

Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Peppard), appeared to sympathise with officers for the mistake, before saying that lessons need to be learned.

He said: “We know this happened against the backdrop of Covid, where working conditions were far from normal, which, whilst not providing an excuse, can certainly shed light on the team working in difficult circumstances.

“We cannot get away from the fact that this was a very serious mistake, and we know mistakes happen, none of us are after all perfect, but its vital that lessons are learned after this incident, and that the correct steps and procedures are put in place so that no repetition can take place.”

On the care provider’s repayment, Cllr Robinson said: “I and my colleagues on Reading Borough Council would like to thank the adult social care provider in question for realising the error and returning the significant overspend to the council.

“I’m pleased to say honesty and integrity were brought to bear in this case.”

All in all, the overpayment amounted to £1,194,538, all of which was recovered.

READ MORE: How Reading Borough Council's contractors are helping the community

Council officer Darren Carter stated that ‘manual interventions’ have since been put in place to prevent future overpayments.

But in the longer term, officer Carter said payments to adult social care providers need to be automated.

Speaking earlier in the meeting, Richard Davies (Labour, Caversham) the vice-chair of the committee, said: “It’s obviously very concerning, we’ve done a lot of publicity, the reputation of the council isn’t helped by these things.”

He also praised the council for its transparency in reporting the overpayment, and the work of the council’s internal auditors for discovering the error.

You can view the meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf7jFtv0T2E

An action plan to prevent further overpayments and blunders devised by the council’s internal audit team was approved by the committee.

It was the committee’s first meeting since Cllr David Stevens, its chairman and a Thames ward representative, switched parties from the Conservatives to Labour earlier this month.