19 July 2005 - Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) Inspection Report on Wrexham County Borough Council
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, has today
published an inspection report by the BFI on Wrexham County Borough Council’s
counter-fraud arrangements.
In 2004/05 Wrexham County Borough Council administered some £27 million
in housing benefits, about 11 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.
The council’s Anti-fraud section was committed to detecting and preventing
benefit fraud. A number of good practices were identified, including
· interviews under caution are witnessed in a high proportion of
the cases that were sampled
· all the fraud investigation officers have had Professionalism In
Security training
· appropriate and fully documented use of authorised officers’
powers.
However, senior management must ensure that all staff are aware of and fully
understand the policies and procedures relating to their area of work. The
report notes that there was a lack of understanding as to how the council’s
sanctions policy should be applied. It did not always follow the policy
or Departmental guidance when deciding on which sanction to offer.
The lack of a systematic checking regime means that the council can only
have limited assurance on the quality of its counter-fraud activities. Improvements
are also required in the quality and quantity of management information
collected and analysed.
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
1. The BFI inspection at Wrexham County Borough Council covered only the
council’s arrangements for countering fraud, taking account, in particular,
of the council’s compliance with the Department for Work and Pensions’
Security Against Fraud and Error (SAFE).
2. The main elements of the SAFE scheme are:
· prevention – offering higher incentive payments to local
authorities that comply with the Verification Framework, as recognition
of their efforts to prevent fraud entering the system
· detection – offering incentive payments to local authorities
for the identification of both fraud and error overpayments
· sanctions and prosecutions – offering incentive payments
to local authorities, not only for successful prosecutions but also for
issuing an administrative penalty or formal caution.
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. 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.
Press office: 0207 238 0866
BFI Press enquiries 01423 83 2982
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 0207 712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk