'Catastrophic effect' | 'Distraught' staff missing mortgage & bill payments after months of errors in new £30m payroll system

Council employees have been left distraught and facing ‘catastrophic’ mental health concerns amid ongoing payroll system errors resulting in months of incorrect wages.

Surrey County Council has been plagued by issues relating to its payroll system, which was introduced in June 2023 to replace a previous system that was more than 20 years old, according to the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service.

But the new system, which reportedly cost £30m to get up and running, has resulted in pay errors ever since, with many public sector staff such as teachers and firefighters being paid either too much or too little each month – both of which have had “dire reverberations”, according to union figures.

The unions aiding staff have now warned that the issues have seen some staff missing payments on their mortgages, rent and household bills.