Defence Secretary John Healey has paid around £1,500 in underpaid council tax on his London second home, following what Westminster Council has described as an administrative oversight.

Healey, whose main residence is in Rawmarsh and Conisbrough in Yorkshire, began renting a flat in Westminster last year for ministerial duties. Despite correctly informing the council that the property should be classed as a second home, the authority failed to apply the correct designation, resulting in an incorrect bill being issued.

The error was only rectified after the Daily Telegraph approached Healey about the discrepancy. He has since paid the outstanding amount in full, including the additional second home surcharge.

A spokesperson for Healey said: “The Secretary of State fulfilled all his obligations as a tenant by notifying Westminster council of the second home status when the tenancy began. Westminster council made an administrative error which led to an incorrect notice. The council have accepted fault and apologised.”

Westminster Council confirmed the mistake: “The Secretary of State filled in the form correctly. There was an oversight by the council, and we did not register it as a second home. This led to an incorrect council tax notice being issued. We apologise for the error.”

The incident highlights the potential for billing mistakes even within well-resourced local authorities — and the importance of checking council tax designations carefully, especially for second homes and rental properties.