12 May 2004 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Report: Milton Keynes 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 Milton Keynes 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 December 2002 Comprehensive Performance Assessment of the Benefits service classified the council as “poor”. Since then progress had been made across many areas of the Performance Standards. The claims backlog had reduced considerably since 2002 but it was still having an impact on claims processing times, which were reducing but still did not meet the Performance Standards.
The report finds that the Benefits service had been given low priority within the council in the past, and performance overall had been poor. However, several significant changes had taken place over the past 2 years, including a complete service restructure and the replacement of its Benefits IT system.
The council’s counter-fraud performance was strong, with successful sanctions applied against benefit fraudsters. However, the council needs to develop procedural guidance for investigators and do more management checks.
The council did not have an overpayment policy or debt recovery strategy. However, actions plans, developed with the support of BFI’s Performance Improvement Action Team, had been in place since March 2003 and these were having a positive impact on the recovery of overpaid benefits.
The council further demonstrated its commitment to improvement by entering into a public private partnership agreement, in January 2004, to deliver a number of its services, including Benefits.
In 2002/03, Milton Keynes Council administered some £48.3 million in housing benefits, about 18.5 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 Milton Keynes 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 November 2003.
- 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 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.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.
For further information please contact: 020 7238 0750
General Press Office: 020 7238 0866
Out of hours: 07659 108883
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk