Council tax payers benefit from windfall Local council tax payers will benefit from a £2 million windfall thanks to work led by our finance team.

Following a House of Lords decision, we were able to claw back the cash, including interest, from HM Revenue and Customs. The complex case involved a backdated VAT claim. Finance and Customer Services, responsible for managing our VAT arrangements, had to work to a strict deadline after tax officials imposed a tight cut-off date for any claims.

In his report to the Finance and Customer Service Committee, Executive Director Alistair Crichton said:

"Three potential areas were identified for consideration, relating to sporting income, catering income and employee expenses. In order to support the claims a vast amount of historical data had to be sought and collated. It is to my staff's credit that, despite the tight timescales, this information was retrieved to substantiate the claim."

Councillor Bob Burrows, Vice-Convener of Finance and Customer Services, said: "This was an excellent piece of work by Finance and Customer Services staff, giving the council an additional £2 million to spend on delivering the many vital local services we provide for residents. There was only a short period of time for claims to be submitted and a significant amount of information required to support the claim, so we are delighted that this resulted in a successful claim."