EVERY cloud has a silver lining - even for Winchester civic chiefs who lost a fortune when a mental health charity collapsed.
The liquidation of Winchester Alliance for Mental Health last year cost the council tax payer some £353,000 that had to be found out of reserves.
But the good news is that liquidators reckon the council should receive about £10,000.
The money will come from part of the proceeds from the sale of equipment set to be finalised shortly.
It would have been more but the European Social Fund has claimed back £213,000 for projects that were not completed. That cut the expected dividend from 4p in the pound to 2.8p. WAMH went bust in December 2004 with the loss of around 20 jobs. The council burnt its fingers because it handled the charity's payroll and effectively supported WAMH.
Since the collapse the council has tightened its procedures to ensure that the same thing can never happen again.
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