29 January 2004 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Report: Isle of Wight Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Andrew Smith 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 Isle of Wight 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.
The council’s performance on benefit administration was mixed. Verification of evidence to support new and renewal claims to benefit was generally completed to standard. However, delays in processing of claims and changes of circumstances meant that performance was significantly below targets.
Isle of Wight Council was taking an average 75 days to clear new benefit claims, compared with the national target of 36 days, and overpayments of benefit were being allowed to continue because notified changes of circumstances were not being dealt with promptly.
The council’s opening hours across its nine benefits outlets exceeded the requirement of the Performance Standards.
The performance of the council’s fraud investigation team was variable. The team appeared to take the majority of investigations through to their natural conclusion, but the action taken on cases and the reasons for decisions made were not adequately recorded.
Benefit overpayments were being recovered effectively from ongoing benefit, but the process for cases where benefit was no longer in payment was less effective.
In 2002/03, Isle of Wight Council administered approximately £39.5 million in housing benefits. This is approximately 18 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 inspection at Isle of Wight 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.
- The Comprehensive Performance Assessment in December 2002 and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Improvement Reporting in December 2003 assessed Isle of Wight Council’s Benefits service as Fair.
- 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.
- 4In 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
BFI Press enquiries: 01423 83 2938
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk