Councillor is landed ...with a council bill

COUNCILLOR Dave Hibbert, his wife Mary and the bill

ANGRY councillor Dave Hibbert is demanding to know why an unpaid £1,065 bill was sent to him instead of the council.

His wife Mary was shocked when she opened the demand from Prime Time Recruitment Ltd for money due from June and July last year.

It asked for payment by return and was addressed to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. It included Councillor Hibbert’s street in Chadderton, but not his name or house number.

He believes the postman automatically delivered it to his house because he regularly receives council correspondence.

He immediately contacted the Northampton-based recruitment agency and said: “I asked how they had got my address. They replied that they had a number of addresses on their computer for OMBC but did not know how mine had got on to it.

“They advised me to throw it in the bin but offered no apology.”

Councillor Hibbert is raising the matter with the council’s finance department and wants to know why the error happened.

He is also concerned that the council has an unpaid bill from last year and blames job cuts.

“I know that departments are understaffed and that the whole council structure is currently in turmoil, but this is financial information and could have been confidential,” added Councillor Hibbert.

“It was recently announced that the council had a policy of speedy payment in order to help firms through these financially difficult times. These bills are 12 months overdue.

“How many other companies are waiting for their money?”

Mrs Hibbert was upset by the demand and said “I know that it may sound funny, but it could have been sent to somebody who couldn’t deal with things like this and become very frightened.”

Oldham’s interim director of finance Peter Timmins said: “Councillor Hibbert has been in touch regarding this invoice. We are currently investigating whether or not it is a valid invoice.