Wealden District Council criticised for council tax ‘scheduling error’ after direct debits taken early: ‘an unprecedented failure of systems and communications’

On Christmas Eve (December 24) the council posted a message to its website, saying that people who usually pay council tax and business rates by direct debit on the first of the month would be affected by ‘an automated scheduling error’.

The council apologised, saying this issue meant direct debits would be taken on Friday, December 27, instead of January 1.

Wealden District Conservative group called the error ‘an unprecedented failure of systems and communications’, estimating that 17,594 households and 324 business rates payers had their accounts debited early ‘without proper notice or time to plan’.

District councillor Michael Lunn (Rotherfield and Hadlow Down) said: “The council have thousands of contact addresses through their Conservative Inspired Wealden Weekly. Why on earth did they not use this effective means of communicating this technical error? They knew before the Christmas Holiday there was a problem yet most people have only just seen their Facebook announcement, or discovered it, to their cost, via their bank.”

Councillor Lunn continued: “One of the most basic responsibilities of a District Council is to collect Council Tax and Business rates. This has had a significant impact on our residents during the most financially demanding time of the year for working families, small local firms, those on benefits, or hard-up pensioners still reeling from the withdrawal of winter fuel payments.”

He said the council did not effectively communicate with residents through ‘existing available channels’, adding: “There will have been an economic impact on those without arranged overdraft facilities. A full and independent enquiry is needed with a report brought to the next Audit, Finance & Governance Committee.”

Wealden District Conservative Councillors said they are seeking answers and said people who have experienced a problem or hardship associated with this issue can email [email protected] and contact their District Councillor directly via www.wealden.gov.uk/councillors-and-committees if they feel they have not received an ‘appropriate response’.

Wealden District Council apologised for the timing of some Christmas period Direct Debit collections on December 24, saying they were ‘working to stop this collection’. But they said it was ‘unlikely that we will be able to do so in time’. In the December 24 message, they asked people to cancel their Direct Debit in their banking app if they were able to do so and email [email protected].

In an updated statement on Sunday, December 29, council leader Rachel Millward, Alliance for Wealden (Green Party), said: “It is deeply upsetting to know that this error will have caused stress and difficulty for some residents over the Christmas period. On behalf of the council I offer my sincere apologies to anyone impacted. We will do all we can to rectify this situation. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with our teams at [email protected] or you can call 01323 443 385.”

Councillor Daniel Manvell, Alliance for Wealden (Labour Party) and lead member for Housing, Benefits and Revenues, said: “Christmas was the worst time of year for a large unexpected payment and I add my profuse apology to all residents who have been affected by this mistake. I am committed to a thorough review of what went wrong and what improved measures can be taken to ensure this cannot happen again. We have already put in place extra measures to support this commitment.”

The December 29 notice on the council website added: “If you do choose to process a refund this can take up to ten working days to process and you may still need to contact us to arrange a payment. You can request a refund through your bank under the Direct Debit Guarantee www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-guarantee.”

It said: “If your Direct Debit was collected in error on 27 December and is not being refunded, then your January Council Tax instalment has been paid. If you are in doubt, you can call our Council Tax team to check on 01323 443 385.”

There are answers to many frequently asked questions about this issue at www.wealden.gov.uk.