Serco fined £1m for Lincolnshire schools payment errors

Serco won a £70m five-year contract from Lincolnshire County Council in April 2015

The company that runs payroll services for Lincolnshire schools has been fined more than £1m for a second year in a row.

Serco had to pay back £1.2m in May last year after failing to pay supplier bills and leaving staff without wages.

Lincolnshire County Council enforced the "service credit" against Serco after a series of errors in payments.

The firm said: "We fully recognise our performance on this contract is not what it should be".

It won a £70m contract in April 2015 to take over HR and finance support for the county's schools.

Last month, a school employee was almost paid £1.5m in wages after an error by the firm.

Eleven Lincolnshire schools have said they were planning to stop using the firm.

'A disappointment'

In a statement, Serco said: "We know there is still a lot more to be done and we remain determined to make this contract a success for Lincolnshire."

Council officer Richard Wills said there were signs of improvement but he was "not satisfied" about Serco's performance.

"Given that they are a very large contractor working across the public sector I think we would have expected to get a good performance from day one, " he said.

"The fact we didn't is a disappointment."