Lambeth LBC has scored a victory over ministers by getting the Government to write off a £23m debt run up by the council by mistake. Government auditors wanted the money paid back after an accounting error dating back 16 years was discovered. The debt, which was revealed three years ago, had built up because interest repayments on a government grant awarded in the early 1990s were wrongly calculated – a mistake not spotted by the council, the Government or the auditors at the time. Had the payment gone ahead, Lambeth would have faced multimillion-pound cut-backs over several years. Cllr Steve Reed lobbied the Government with the borough's three Labour MPs to argue wide-scale cuts in services should not result from an accounting error almost two decades ago. Local government minister, John Healey, has now confirmed that the Government would introduce legislation which meant the money would not have to be repaid. Mr Reed said: ‘This is a cloud that has hung over the council for almost three years. Now it's been lifted and that means the money can be spent on frontline services instead.'