1 September 2004 - Results from the DWP omnibus survey of Local Authorities
Research findings from the Local Authority Omnibus Survey Wave 9 are published today.
The Omnibus is a regular survey of local authority benefit managers, with a range of topics related to Housing Benefit (HB)/Council Tax Benefit (CTB) covered in each Wave. An independent research organisation, NOP World Ltd, carried out the ninth Wave of the Survey on behalf of the Department.
All 408 local authorities (LAs) in England, Scotland and Wales were invited to take part and a total of 289 completed the questionnaire on the telephone (126), on paper (106) or on the web (57) between October and December 2003. This represented a response rate of 71 per cent.
The key findings were as follows:
Quarterly Monitoring Reports
Almost every local authority (97 per cent) was aware of the Quarterly Monitoring Reports. Sixty-six per cent of LAs said that their Chief Executive passes the Reports on to Members and Officers. Over half said that the Reports have had a positive impact on the benefits department (59 per cent) and agreed that they have raised the profile of the benefit service within the LA as a whole and increased interest in the benefits service by the Chief Executive and Members (both 56 per cent).
Subsidy system
It appears that LAs have a fairly good understanding of changes to the subsidy system. A majority of LAs (83 per cent) described the changes as clear, and 79 per cent of authorities agreed that the changes have helped to improve the transparency of finding of subsidy arrangements. Seventy-seven per cent described the changes as an improvement on previous arrangements. The main reasons why respondents think the changes are an improvement are that all the funding is from one source (80 per cent), they only have to deal with one government department (52 per cent) and it is more appropriate for DWP to maintain control of all subsidy (51 per cent).
Help Team Toolkit CD Rom
Ninety-one per cent of LAs were aware of the Help Team Toolkit CD Rom, but only 40per cent of these had actually used it. Among the authorities that have used the toolkit, 42 per cent were trying to resolve problems, most commonly, a backlog of claims (27 per cent). Overall 84 per cent of LAs who had used the toolkit rated it as helpful.
Security Against Fraud and Error
The majority of LAs (96 per cent) were aware of the changes to be made in April 2004 to the Security Against Fraud and Error (SAFE) and Verification Framework (VF) schemes and the information issued regarding this. At the time of the research, 85 per cent of the LAs were very or fairly confident that their authority would be able to implement any changes to SAFE/VF in April 2004.
Registered Social Landlord (RSL) Verification Framework
The majority of LAs (94 per cent) were aware of the RSL Verification Framework (VF) Scheme. Thirty-two per cent of those aware reported that their authority was planning to apply for it, half of which would do so in the next 6 months. Twenty-four per cent of those aware had already applied for, or received, the grant.
Joint Working: Fraud and Error
In terms of joint working to tackle fraud and error, LAs were far more likely to work with Jobcentre Plus offices and other LAs than with the Inland Revenue or The Pension Service. Ratings for the effectiveness of joint working with the Inland Revenue and with The Pension Service were lower than those associated with working with Jobcentre Plus.
SOL Prosecutions
Twenty-five per cent (72 LAs in total) had chosen to use the services of Sol Prosecutions (Sol P). They have referred an average of 4 cases each between January 2003 and September 2003. Just over half of these led to prosecution by Sol P. There were 32 LAs where one or more cases that had been referred to Sol P did not lead to prosecution. Of these, 50 per cent had not managed to successfully prosecute the cases themselves. 47per cent of LAs that have used Sol P were satisfied with the service. The majority of LAs do not use Sol P, mainly because they are happy with the current service they receive from an alternative (57per cent).
Programme Protection Working Party
Forty per cent of LAs had heard of the Programme Protection Working Party (PPWP), and among these, 12 per cent are members. Fifty per cent agreed that PPWP plays an important role in helping formulate policy on fraud and error. Fifty-two per cent of LAs would like to have their views represented at PPWP and 42 per cent agreed with the statement that the PPWP ensures that DWP understands the problems faced by local authorities when implementing policy decisions. In terms of the options available for being kept informed about the work of the PPWP, via HB Direct was the most frequently chosen option (77 per cent), followed by HB area of DWP website (56 per cent) and minutes of meetings (49 per cent).
Security BVPI No.76
Twenty-three per cent of LAs have made changes to their working practices since the introduction of BVPI/MIS (Best Value Performance Indicator/Management Information System) changes in April 2003. Fifty-two per cent said they had retrained existing staff, 30 per cent said they had increased the number of home visits and 24 per cent said they had recruited additional fraud investigators.
Benefit Fraud Inspectorate
Around three-quarters (76 per cent) of LAs had been in contact with the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) since April 2002. Ratings of usefulness for different methods of contact with the BFI were generally very high. Overall, the Welsh improvement inspection was rated the most useful, with all participating Welsh authorities rating it either very useful (40 per cent) or fairly useful (60 per cent). At a national level, 94 per cent of LAs who had made contact with the BFI rated telephone calls to BFI staff as useful at some level. The lowest rating was for follow-up inspections, with 73 per cent of LAs finding them useful. General levels of staff professionalism were perceived as being very high for all types of contact.
Customer survey/Appeals service
Almost all LAs (96 per cent) provide information to customers about the appeals process for HB/CTB appeals. Six per cent of LAs have conducted a customer survey specifically asking about claimants experiences of the Appeals process. Forty-eight per cent of LAs have a formal complaints procedure for HB/CTB appeals and 50 per cent do not. However, among those authorities that do not have a formal complaints procedure, 26 per cent record details of complaints received from claimants about HB/CTB appeals. Sixty-four per cent of LAs have set a target length of time it should take to respond to complaints about HB/CTB appeals.
Notes for editors
- The Local Authority Omnibus Survey – Wave 9 is published today in the Department for Work and Pensions’ In-House Research Series (report no. 142, ISBN 1-84388-309-0). A free copy of the Report and Summary are available from the Research Support Team at the DWP Social Research Division (020 7962 8566).
- Quarterly Monitoring Reports have been produced since April 2002 and are sent to the Chief Executive of each local authority. The Report shows the performance of the LAs administration of HB/CTB in terms of six key indicators: 1) Average time taken processing new claims 2) Average time taken processing change of circumstances 3) Percentage of renewal claims processed on time 4) Percentage of cases calculated correctly 5) Percentage of new claims decided within 14 days of receipt of the LA receiving the necessary information 6) Percentage of new rent allowance claims paid where the first payment is made on time. The statistics are made available on the internet.
- In April 2003, as part of a wider review of housing benefit, changes were made to the subsidy system. The main changes mean that from 2003-2004 DWP will pay all Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit administration subsidy. Previously, DWP paid 50 per cent and the other 50 per cent was paid by the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister (in England), the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly. The change was made under a commitment by the government in March 2002 that no family with children would remain in bed and breakfast accommodation – except in an emergency – after March 2004. A reduced subsidy rate in respect of bed and breakfast cases supports this commitment by providing more subsidy when an LA uses better quality accommodation. This is part of the government’s efforts to tackle child poverty and social exclusion.
- The Help Team Toolkit CD Rom was issued to LA Chief Executives and Benefit Managers free of charge in July 2002. It is a compilation of tools developed by the DWP Help Team, working with LAs. Councils can use the Toolkit to analyse the way they administer HB/CTB, provide guidance on dealing with common issues, and help meet performance standards, identify any areas of weakness and make improvements if necessary.
- The Security Against Fraud and Error (SAFE) scheme is a scheme that rewards LAs for identifying and acting on fraud and error in their HB caseload. This was introduced across Great Britain in April 2002 and further changes were introduced in April 2004. As a result of the review of the SAFE scheme, adjustments have been introduced in April 2004 so that authorities receive funding for all proactive work undertaken without the need to reach any threshold first.
- The Verification Framework (VF) details minimum standards for collecting acceptable evidence to reduce fraud, and includes guidance on subsequent reviews and visits. Implementation of the VF scheme is voluntary, and is part of an overall package of measures intended to improve the administration of HB/CTB. Between October 2001 and June 2002 a pilot was set up by the Department in partnership with the Housing Corporation, the National Assembly for Wales and Communities Scotland to test the effectiveness of using Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to collect evidence for the VF on behalf of LAs. The national extension of the scheme on a voluntary basis took place in November 2002.
- LAs are asked to work jointly with other relevant public service organisations to help tackle fraud and abuse in the benefits system, which requires work over and above day-to-day joint working required in the administration of housing benefit. The four organisations that LAs were asked to comment on were Jobcentre Plus, other LAs, the Inland Revenue and The Pension Service.
- SOL Prosecutions is DWP’s own in-house Solicitors’ Branch. LAs have been able to make use of solicitors from SOL P free of charge since January 2003.
- The government has established a Programme Protection Working Party (PPWP) for housing benefit that brings together people from DWP and LAs to identify and propose new and effective ways of protecting the integrity of the HB programme from fraud and abuse.
- Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) (known as Statutory Performance Indicators in Scotland and NAW Performance Indicators in Wales) provide essential information on the key services delivered locally. The Security PI is a revised HB/CTB performance indicator introduced in April 2003 that focuses on local authority activity on benefit security.
- The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI), launched in 1997, aims to strengthen benefits administration by inspection and reporting.
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