WORK is being carried out to fix errors in council tax bills after Wrexham Council was accused of disrespecting the Welsh language.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales issued a special report against the local authority for repeated failings to address issues, which were first raised by a resident known as ‘Mr D’ in 2014.

It comes after the council first pledged to correct the errors last year and wrote a letter of apology to Mr D, paying him £50 compensation.

However, when he received his council tax bill in March 2018, there were still inconsistencies between the Welsh and English versions of the document.

He said it was a sign of “disrespect to taxpayers, the Welsh language, the law and the Ombudsman”.

The Ombudsman has since ordered the local authority to write a further letter to Mr D and pay him £100, as well as asking for a system to be put in place to ensure it does not happen again.

In a report Cllr Hugh Jones, the council’s lead member for people, said: “After seeing the evidence the Ombudsman decided he was not satisfied the council had implemented the recommendations in full as had been agreed.

“He determined that he would need to invoke his powers to issue a special report to convey the message to other public bodies that early resolutions under the act are serious matters.

“The report was critical of the council’s failure to implement the recommendations in full despite the council formally agreeing to do so, and that it was only now working towards making the necessary changes for the next tax year."

Cllr Jones added: “Work has commenced to ensure the items referred to are completed.

“Once these documents have been returned work will be undertaken to input these onto the appropriate systems and work with suppliers where appropriate to ensure that the revised council tax demand notice is ready

for annual billing in 2019/20.”

Cllr Jones said any failure to make the agreed changes could lead to a decision that the council is not compliant with the Welsh Language Standards and a substantial fine being issued.

It is not the first time the authority has been criticised for Welsh language errors.

Earlier this year translation issues were pointed out on new parking signs at country parks, which cost £7,000 to install.

A member of the public circled several words on a sign at Alyn Waters Country Park in Gwersyllt with a black marker pen, while ‘ofnadwy’ – the Welsh word for awful – was scribbled inches away.

A Wrexham Council spokesman said part of the signs would be replaced to include the correct translations.