27 January 2004 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Follow-up Report: Northampton Borough Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Andrew Smith has today published a follow-up inspection report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) on the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and counter-fraud activity by Northampton Borough Council.
BFI inspected the council against the Performance Standards for housing benefits. The report found that 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, the report concludes that the council had made significant improvements in the areas of counter-fraud and working with landlords since the publication of the earlier BFI inspection report in April 2000.
The council had developed a prosecution policy, which supported prosecutions against benefit fraudsters. This demonstrates that the council is serious about tackling benefit fraud.
Northampton council had formed effective working relations between its Benefits section and housing landlords.
Weaknesses remained in the council’s benefit overpayment performance and claims processing, with new housing benefits claims taking an average 62 days to clear compared to the national target of 36 days.
These 2 areas must be seen as the major challenges for the council. Reaching standard in claims processing will significantly improve its customer service.
At the time of the inspection, the council had over 3,000 items of work outstanding contributing to the long claims processing times.
In 2002/03, Northampton Borough Council administered approximately £46.7 million in housing benefits. This is approximately 39 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.
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 follow-up inspection at Northampton Borough 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 July 2003.
- BFI published its first inspection report on Northampton Borough Council in April 2000.
- 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. They 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 claimants 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 claimants 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.
- 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