Media centre

31 January 2005 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Focused Inspection Report: South Gloucestershire Council

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alan Johnson has today published a focused inspection report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) on the administration of processing of claims by South Gloucestershire Council.

South Gloucestershire Council was selected for a focused inspection on processing of claims of HB and CTB because it had reported that it was taking 86 days on average to process new claims for HB and CTB in 2003/04. This level of performance was in the bottom quartile of all reported performance and 50 days outside the Standard of 36 days.

In 2003/04, South Gloucestershire Council administered some £33.7 million in housing benefits, about 10 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.

BFI identified weaknesses in the council’s benefits administration processes, which had contributed to its performance. These included: user errors, inaccurate management information, delays in transferring claims and further information from One-Stop Shops and Housing offices to the main benefits processing office, delays in setting up Council Tax accounts and management checking processes that were not fully effective.

The report notes that there were problems with the interfaces between the Benefits service and Jobcentre Plus and The Pension Service. Benefits service staff told inspectors that delays in sharing information and issues around the consistency and accuracy of that information had led to delays in the processing of benefit claims.

BFI made recommendations to ensure that problems in the exchange of information were quickly addressed and a national initiative by Jobcentre Plus to improve joint working will also help resolve this.

The Benefits service had responded positively to recommendations made by Internal Audit. However, it had set very challenging targets for dealing with Internal Audit recommendations, resulting in some failures to meet completion dates.

Since the inspection the council has made improvements in the average time taken to process new claims for HB and CTB. In October 2004 it reported that the average time has reduced to 46 days. The council has also developed an action plan to address the recommendations in the report.

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

  1. The process for the focused inspection at South Gloucestershire 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 August 2004.
  2. The Minister for housing benefits, Chris Pond announced in January 2004 that shorter more focused inspections, designed to provide for quick improvements in performance in specific areas of benefits administration, would be undertaken by BFI.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. The Department for Work and Pensions has not set a timescale for when the standards need to be met by local authorities.
  6. This report only looked at those elements of Strategic Management and Processing of Claims in the Performance Standards that BFI considered to have a direct impact on the speed of processing of new claims for HB and CTB.
  7. The HB/CTB Performance Standards can be downloaded from: www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/publications/2003.asp
  8. Media copies of the BFI inspection report can be obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions Press Office on 020 7238 0866.
  9. All BFI inspection reports can be found on the BFI website – www.bfi.gov.uk.

Press office: 020 7238 0866
BFI Press enquiries: 01423 83 2938
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171

top of page