What has the service aimed to achieve?

This section includes good practice on:
Strategic management (Managing the benefits service)

A strategic plan for the benefits service should be endorsed by council Members and senior officials and state clearly the standard of service to be delivered. The plan should demonstrate that account has been taken not only of the views of customers but it should also reflect and support local and central government corporate strategies.

A service delivery plan is required to ensure that the use of resources is effectively managed and monitored to deliver service standards and performance targets. A benefits service delivery plan for administering Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (HB and CTB) effectively translates the strategy, policies and objectives into practical ways of providing a service. At their best, such plans will provide a basis for managing any changes that are required to improve the HB and CTB service.

top of page

Strategic management (Managing the benefits service)

Good practice includes:

• having a strategic plan endorsed by Members which is publicised internally and externally and which commits the local authority (LA) to providing an effective and secure HB and CTB service
• ensuring that the strategic plan:
  • is the result of a participative process involving Members, employees, customers and interested third parties
  • recognises the tension between the current position and the future desired position, so that it provides a basis for planning a way to bridge the gap between the two
• setting local targets (apart from the national performance indicators) to reflect management aims and objectives. When making decisions the potential value of each target should be set against the resources required to monitor it
• having plans that are thoroughly developed, used, monitored and adapted to meet changing circumstances. Employees need to be convinced that the plans are realistic and achievable if they are to take ownership of them. If that does not exist, the organisation is less likely to succeed in achieving its targets and objectives
• ensuring that a thorough analysis of HB and CTB administration is conducted, to identify issues that need to be addressed in order to prepare a plan for improving the service
• using surveys and annual appraisals to confirm understanding of the strategic plan throughout the organisation
• linking the strategic plan for the HB and CTB service to the wider objectives of the LA
• linking the policies and objectives to the Government's safeguarding social security strategy and policy for housing
• using appropriate Audit Scotland and Accounts Commission reports (in Scotland) to review the performance management in your benefits service
• having explicit documented strategic policies and objectives designed to bridge the gap between the desired and current position
• ensuring that Members annually endorse these policies and objectives
• reviewing these policies and objectives as part of its annual planning cycle
• having interim objectives where a step-change approach is required to achieve the high-level objectives
• ensuring objective setting is an effective organisational tool
• having objectives that seek efficiency savings and value-for-money improvements
• having specific objectives to minimise backlogs
• using a recognised business excellence model to ensure that business results are linked to the effectiveness of policies and strategies
• applying other common quality standards
• ensuring that all internal and external stakeholders are recognised and consulted in the development or review of policies and objectives
• making direct links between organisational objectives and employees' work objectives by using the appraisal system to link individual employees' objectives to the benefits service's and the LA's corporate targets and priorities
• having a documented delivery plan (sometimes known as a service plan) that takes into account:
  • local aims and targets which reflect the LA's aims and objectives
  • peaks and troughs in resource availability and workload
  • the resources needed to implement change
• having a benefits service with:
  • clearly defined and well-understood boundaries, roles and responsibilities
  • clear and logical lines of management responsibility within the benefits service
  • an organisational structure that promotes the establishment of clear service standards for effective and secure management of HB and CTB
  • effective management control over the resources available to deliver the service
  • an organisational structure that of itself creates no barriers to effective communication and promotes effective working relationships
• ensuring that the arrangements for inter-departmental working are:
  • monitored
  • regularly reviewed
  • amended when necessary
• prioritising objectives
• adopting systems analysis and project management techniques
• appointing a project manager to implement major changes and having specific project plans to deliver any programme of change that:
  • identify key milestone dates
  • have clear lines of responsibility and accountability for progress reporting
  • recognise the impact on all stakeholders, and communicates its plans to all stakeholders
  • Members and senior officers support with resources to meet identified objectives
  • include monitoring progress against the plan, reporting regularly to Members and senior officers
  • regularly assesses the risks in all operational and change plans, and ensures that all known contingencies are planned for, monitored and managed
• allocating responsibility to managers for delivery against plans
• encouraging staff to contribute to the improvement plan
• retaining competent employees to manage any outsourced contract and ensure all non-devolved functions are handled efficiently and to perform those functions, such as claiming and receipt of subsidy, which have not been devolved to the contractor because of legal or contractual constraints, undertake checks on at least 10% of decisions made by the contractor in each working day
• monitoring current performance against the LA's aims and objectives and identifying key issues and analysing reasons for any gaps between the strategic plan and current performance and setting targets to overcome the problems identified
• ensuring that appropriate solutions to problems are developed, bearing in mind all risks to the benefits service and benchmarking proposals against similar LAs
• having a documented and effective business continuity plan designed to cover responses to disruptions that impact on normal HB and CTB administration, from maternity leave to local disasters
• incorporating risk management and business continuity arrangements in all change programmes
• testing regularly and reviewing business continuity and operational plans
• ensuring all benefits and other associated employees are familiar with the contents of the business continuity and operational plans