11 November 2004 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report: London Borough of Lambeth
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alan Johnson, has today published a second inspection report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) on the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and counter-fraud activity by London Borough of Lambeth.
In 2003/04, the London Borough of Lambeth administered some £114.9 million in housing benefits, about 10 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.
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. In particular inspectors noted that the organisational structure did not support the effective delivery of the benefits service or effective communication within the council.
The report acknowledges that there are some areas of good practices in strategic areas, including a clear corporate vision that underpinned policies and high level plans. Overpayment recovery had also improved since the first inspection and this was supported by good procedural guidance.
The council has significantly improved Customer Service, Internal Security and the work of the Benefit Investigation team and is keen to improve further. BFI’s Performance Improvement Action Team will look at issues based around overpayments.
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 London Borough of Lambeth included an initial fact finding stage, an on-site visit, and production and clearance of the report. The on-site visit took place during May 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
DWP Press enquiries: 020 7238 0866
BFI Press enquiries: 01423 83 2938
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Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171