Council considers changing provider after 17,000 taxed twice

The district council in the Forest of Dean is reviewing its banking arrangements after over 17,000 residents and businesses were mistakenly charged twice for council tax and business rates.

An investigation panel, formed to examine the incident in August, determined that neither council staff nor Publica employees were at fault. Instead, the problem stemmed from the council's bank systems and an unidentified third-party contractor. Both parties have issued formal apologies, though the council has not publicly disclosed the provider responsible.

The committee admitted that communication with the public was inadequate, with many residents first learning about the issue via social media.

Chairman John Francis presented the panel's conclusions on 27 November, explaining that outdated payment processes, which should have been permanently archived during a system upgrade, were accidentally reactivated. This triggered duplicate direct debit requests, which were not detected by the bank's security measures at the time.

Francis acknowledged the understandable concern caused by the situation and confirmed that the error originated within the banking and payment systems.

Independent councillor Tim Gwilliam highlighted the need for accountability, noting that the public had no role in choosing the bank or third-party provider. The panel agreed that communication procedures must be improved.

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Knott confirmed that all affected customers have now been refunded. The committee recommended that the council explore alternative banking providers to prevent future issues.

Finance cabinet member Andy Moore thanked staff for their efforts in resolving the problem, emphasizing that errors of this nature are extremely rare.

Author: Noah Whitman