Oldham councillors have been overpaid in allowances by more than £100,000, a report has revealed.
A review of Oldham Council’s Members’ Allowances Scheme found that both underpayments and overpayments had been made since 2022/23, with the cost of the errors totalling at £110,000.
A report written in advance of the council’s audit committee meeting next Wednesday unveils that ‘the discrepancies arose from weaknesses in process, communication, and validation’.
Councillors will be required to provide repayments either in full or in instalments following the incorrect allocations, which reportedly vary between overpayments of £700 and sums exceeding £1,000.
According to the report, council officers are responsible for overseeing the scheme, which has now been reinforced with improved frameworks to ‘prevent recurrence’ of the issues.
A council spokesperson confirmed that the councillors affected have now been apologised to.
The spokesperson said: ‘This mistake should not have happened, and we’ve now strengthened our processes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
‘Councillors have been given provisional figures showing what they’ve been over or underpaid. We will work with each affected councillor to agree fair and manageable repayment plans where needed, to make sure no one faces financial difficulty.
‘To be open and transparent, the findings of our review will be shared with the Audit Committee.’
