2 December 2004 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report: Rutland County Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alan Johnson has today published an inspection report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) on the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and counter-fraud activity by Rutland County Council.
In 2002/03, Rutland County Council administered some £3.72 million in housing benefits, about 12 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.
BFI inspected the council against the Performance Standards, the council was not at standard for any of the seven functional areas – strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, working with landlords, internal security, counter-fraud and overpayments. However, there were elements where Rutland County Council was at or above Standard and the inspection identified examples of innovation and good practice.
There was a strong commitment at all levels within the council to provide an efficient Benefits service and a high proportion of customers expressed satisfaction with the service provided.
The report notes that there were some strengths in the council’s Benefits service including clear and accessible claim forms, clear informative decision letters and effective internal security practices.
The average time taken to process new claims was 19 days against the Standard of 36 days and 90 per cent of new claims were processed within 14 days of receiving all information. Verification of evidence supporting benefits claims was good. However, at the time of BFI’s inspection, there was no management checking.
The council identified and calculated benefit overpayments quickly but BFI considered that it needed to improve the accuracy of its management information and use all the recovery methods available to it.
In June 2004, the council started to address its responsibilities to fight benefit fraud with the creation of a dedicated counter-fraud team. BFI found the council to be providing a fair service.
BFI reports the council has been receptive to the findings in the report and implemented a number of changes immediately.
BFI is an independent unit within the Department for Work and Pensions that reports directly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the standard of benefit administration and counter-fraud activity.
Chris Pond, Work and Pensions Minister, announced the publication of the report in a written ministerial statement.
Notes for editors
- The process for the inspection at Rutland County Council included an initial fact finding stage, an on-site visit, and production and clearance of the report. The on-site visit took place during June 2004.
- Each BFI inspection report is considered by the Secretary of State who decides whether any further action is appropriate. The Secretary of State has powers to issue directions to a local authority to secure acceptable or minimum standards in performance.
- In its response to the Housing Green Paper of November 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The HB/CTB Performance Standards, published in April 2002, enable local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. These are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
- The Department for Work and Pensions has not set a timescale for when the standards need to be met by local authorities.
- BFI inspects against the seven functional areas of the Performance Standards:
- Strategic management – clearly stated aims and action, resources and monitoring, with effective training and IT
- Customer services – providing an efficient and prompt service that meets the needs of all customers and persons with a legitimate interest in a claim
- Processing of claims – speedy and accurate claims processing with effective verification
- Working with landlords – to give private landlords the confidence to let to customers and to support delivery of social housing
- Internal security – preventing internal fraud
- Counter-fraud – deterring, preventing, detecting and pursuing fraud
- Overpayments – preventing, identifying and recovering overpayments.
- The HB/CTB Performance Standards can be downloaded from: www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/publications/2003.asp
- Media copies of the BFI inspection report can be obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions Press Office on 020 7238 0866.
- All BFI inspection reports can be found on the BFI website – www.bfi.gov.uk.
Press office: 020 7238 0866
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Website: www.dwp.gov.uk