31 January 2005 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Report: Bedford Borough Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alan Johnson has today published an inspection report by the BFI on the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and counter-fraud activity by Bedford Borough Council. The council was performing at an excellent standard and becomes the first authority to reach this standard as a result of a BFI inspection.
BFI inspected the council against the Performance Standards, the council was at Standard for five functional areas – Strategic management, Customer services, Processing of claims, Working with landlords and Counter-fraud and above Standard for two functional areas – Overpayments and Internal security.
Chris Pond, Works and Pensions Minister, said "I welcome BFI's report as it records the outstanding effort made by Bedford Borough Council to reach the Department's standard by delivering a better service to the customer."
Chris Bull, Director of BFI, said "I was very pleased that we were invited to inspect Bedford, as Shaun Field, the Chief Executive, believed they were providing an excellent Benefits Service. The authority has made some drastic improvements to processing times very quickly and these improvements have been sustained.
"I very much hope that our report will prove helpful to other local authorities facing difficult challenges. In addition to some new working practices, the report illustrates that clear leadership, staff involvement in agreeing goals and comprehensive planning and monitoring are the basic building blocks for success."
In 2003/04, Bedford Borough Council administered some £37 million in housing benefits, about 52 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure. BFI carried out the on-site phase of the inspection in September 2004.
The standard for processing new claims and changes of circumstances is 36 and 9 days respectively. Bedford Borough Council improved its processing times for new claims and changes of circumstances from 68 and 18 days in March 2003 to 26 and 6 days in September 2003. This was achieved by providing a clear commitment to reach and maintain top quartile performance and the processing times have been sustained.
The report notes a great deal of commitment and professionalism in Bedford Borough Council and a determination throughout the organisation to maintain the high level of performance achieved.
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 Bedford Borough 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 September 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. 8. All BFI inspection reports can be found on the BFI website – www.bfi.gov.uk.
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