Rotherham: Councillor Sue Ellis 'did not notice' £9,000 overpayment

Councillor Sue Ellis immediately repaid the money when told of the overpayments

A borough councillor breached a code of conduct after receiving thousands of pounds in wages for 15 months despite leaving her role on a pensions board.

Sue Ellis, chair of Rotherham Council's licensing board, faced the standards and ethics sub-committee in January to answer for the overpayments.

A report to the full council says Ms Ellis was paid £600 a month after leaving her role in May 2019.

Councillors heard she repaid the £9,000 when told of the overpayments.

The Labour councillor for Wickersley was found to have brought the council into disrepute following the January hearing.

It found she had continued to receive payments from the council for her position as chair of the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, 15 months after leaving the role, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

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Although Ms Ellis left the position in May 2019, she continued to receive £600 per month as a wage until August 2020, the leader of the Rotherham Democratic Party Group Allen Cowles told the hearing.

The report said Mr Cowles "found it hard to accept that the Subject Member (Ms Ellis) had not known she was receiving £600 more than she should each month."

Ms Ellis said the family used her partner's salary rather than relying on funds from an elected position, so it was left to build up.

She added that she had "no cause to monitor the account" until the overpayment was drawn to her attention.

A report following the hearing said: "Once the issue had been brought to [Ms Ellis'] attention she had, without delay, paid the amount back in full."

A series of sanctions against Ms Ellis were agreed at the meeting, including a censure and reporting the findings to full council.

The report into the overpayments, will go before the full council on 10 March.