Council staff who issued a £177,000 grant overpayment have now left the authority

Elgan Hearn, Local democracy reporter

All staff involved in a costly grant overpayment of more than £177,000 have now left the Welsh council at which they were employed, a senior official has revealed.

The admission came during a meeting of Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet on Tuesday, March 24, where councillors questioned the error before voting to write off the £177,487 debt.

The issue stemmed from a Welsh Government-funded Town Centre Capital Grant scheme in 2020, when an application for £239,955 was approved for renovation works to a commercial property in Newtown.

The applicant told the council that they could match-fund the grant through borrowing.

In April 2021, the final payment order raised by the council was incorrect and, instead of receiving just the final payment, the applicant received the full grant again.

Cllr Thomas explained why the debt was deemed as “unrecoverable” and said that repeated efforts to get the money back had failed.

Cllr Thomas said: “The business went into liquidation in August 2025 with HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) debts of £300,000.

“The applicant’s personal property has multiple charges against it and credit checks show further liabilities.

“The applicant died in January 2026, and recovery is tied up with probate and limited likelihood of return.”

He explained that even if land charges are registered against the properties, the council would be behind other “preferential” creditors in the pecking order to receive any money, and it is “unlikely” that the council gets anything back.

Deputy council leader Cllr Matthew Dorrance (Labour – Brecon West) pointed out that the overpayment had been issued before the Liberal Democrat/Labour administration was formed following the May 2022 elections.

“What failed in the process?” asked Cllr Dorrance.

Head of finance Mari Thomas said: “It was a manual input error.

“I’m aware that the service has learnt from this error and there is a second-check process now in place.”

Cabinet member for customers, digital and community services, Cllr Raiff Devlin (Liberal Democrat – Talybont-on-Usk), asked who had “operational responsibility” during the time the mistake happened and what reporting procedures for this were in place.

Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod North) added: “It’s important that we know the trail.”

Cllr Thomas said that responsibility for administering the grant lay with the economy department.

Director of economic development and growth, Diane Reynolds, said that the line manager, head of service and director would have been able to sign off the payment.

At the time there was no head of service, so it went to the director for sign-off.

Ms Reynolds added that the payment processing system had held all the relevant information to make the correct payment.

Ms Reynolds said: “All those personnel within that chain are no longer in the authority.”

Cabinet member for the economy, Cllr Glyn Preston (Liberal Democrat – Llanidloes), asked whether any “warnings or blocks” had been placed on the payments system now to make sure this type of mistake doesn’t happen again.

Ms Reynolds said that a panel has now been set up to oversee and approve payments.

Ms Reynolds said: “That panel takes responsibility for recognising any duplication, and the line manager has a responsibility within that process.

“A final check is done by another person in that team.”

She added that SWAP, the council’s internal auditors, will conduct a review of administration and payment processes and practices for this grant scheme.

Councillors then went ahead and agreed the debt write-off.