22 September 2005 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Inspection Report on North Wiltshire District Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, has today published an inspection report by the BFI on North Wiltshire District Council’s processing of claims for housing benefits.
In 2004/05, North Wiltshire District Council administered some 19.6 million pounds in housing benefits, about 40 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure. In May 2005, BFI carried out a focused inspection on the processing of new claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit by North Wiltshire District Council and found it was not at standard.
The council was chosen for a focused inspection because it reported that it was taking 123 days on average to process new claims for benefit for the quarter ended 31 December 2004. This level of performance was in the bottom quartile of all reported performance. However, because of long term IT problems, the Department had granted the council exemption from completion of quarterly management information returns from January 2005.
The loss of a number of experienced staff during the early part of 2004/05 put further pressure on the service, which led to a backlog of claims. This was cleared in January 2005 when the old IT system was closed down, but data conversion problems meant that when the new Benefits IT system went live in March 2005, a further backlog existed.
Despite continuing IT problems, the council were working hard to clear a backlog of benefit cases and, if the backlog is excluded, the council were clearing new claims within the DWP standard of 36 days. The standard of verification of claims was good.
Management reports and performance monitoring systems were being developed as the council was becoming more familiar with its new IT system. However, these management controls need to be linked to systematic management checking and individual and team targets to ensure that the performance improvements are sustained.
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, Minister for Housing Benefit and Anti-Fraud, 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 0866.
- All BFI inspection reports can be found on the BFI website – www.bfi.gov.uk.
Department for Work and Pensions Press enquiries: 020 7238 0866
BFI Press enquiries: 01423 83 2982
Out of Hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk