West Sussex council sorry over social care billing errors

A local authority has apologised after a computer error led to hundreds of people paying too little for their social care.

West Sussex County Council said it had failed to collect a total of £500,000 from about 500 people.

Chief Executive Kieran Stigant said the authority would seek to recover the money.

He said: “However, if there are genuine hardship cases, these will be handled sensitively.”

He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to apologise. Officers are working to rectify the problem as soon as is possible.”