31 October 2005 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Inspection Report on Dacorum Borough Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, has today published an inspection report by the BFI on Dacorum Borough Council’s processing of claims for housing benefits.
In 2004/05, Dacorum Borough Council administered some £29.5 million in housing benefits, about 24.5 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure. In 2004/05 the council was taking an average of 63 days to process new claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. It had signficant backlogs of work linked to the introduction of a new benefits IT system in 2003 and the absence of expert full-time staff. Effective recruitment since late 2004 has led to improvements. The average processing time for new claims was 42 days for the first quarter of 2005/06 and the backlogs are now cleared.
Good practices included adopting the Department’s Verification Framework from April 2005, monitoring workflow, and prioritising changes of circumstances to reduce overpayments. However, processing changes of circumstances deteriorated from an average of 14 days in 2004/05 to 25 days in the first quarter of 2005/06.
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.
James Plaskitt, Benefits Minister, announced the publication of the report in a written ministerial statement.
Notes to Editors
- 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.
- Media copies of the BFI inspection report can be obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions Press Office on 020 7238 0766.
- All BFI inspection reports can be found on the BFI website – www.bfi.gov.uk.
Department for Work and Pensions Press enquiries: 020 7238 0766
BFI Press enquiries: 01423 83 2982
Out of Hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk