Councils apologise after delay in paying hundreds of Sheffield local election polling station staff

Council bosses have apologised after delays in paying hundreds of polling station staff in Sheffield for working at last month's local elections.
A man enters Oughtibridge parish centre polling station in Sheffield. Picture: PAA man enters Oughtibridge parish centre polling station in Sheffield. Picture: PA
A man enters Oughtibridge parish centre polling station in Sheffield. Picture: PA

People who worked during the elections on May 2 had been due to be paid last Thursday, May 30, but are yet to receive the money they are due because of a system fault at Rotherham Council, which administers returning officer payrolls for Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham. Council officials said today payments should be made by the end of this week.

One affected polling station clerk, who asked not to be named, said they were unhappy not only at the delayed payment but also at the failure to promptly inform those who had worked shifts of up to 16 hours on the day of the payment problem.

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The source said he had only found out about the issue via a presiding officer at his count and others in the same situation may not have been informed.

The clerk said with over 160 polling stations in Sheffield typically operating with four to five staff each, he believed at least 650 people will have been affected, missing out on standard payments of £145 for a shift.

A joint statement from Sheffield and Rotherham councils said staff should now be paid by Friday after the problem was resolved.

A spokeswoman said: “There was a problem which has been resolved by the two councils working closely together. Staff can now expect to be paid by Friday, June 7.

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“We apologise for any inconvenience this delay may have caused.”

The issue only affected Sheffield, with no local elections held in Doncaster or Rotherham last month.

The clerk said polling station staff are made up of a mixture of council employees doing an extra day’s work and students, self-employed and retired people who had come forward to offer their services.

He said many people would have been relying on the money to pay various bills and was unhappy that not everyone had been told of the issue.

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“Only some people were told - it seems to have been presiding officers with no instructions to tell the staff,” he said.

“If it happens in the future, it would be nice to inform all the staff, rather than just some.”