16 June 2005 – Over half of all councils have met target for paying Housing Benefit
For the first time more than half of local councils are meeting or beating the DWP target of processing new Housing Benefit claims in 36 days.
This helps more people than ever secure somewhere to live so they can look for work.
Housing Benefit Minister James Plaskitt praised the spectacular improvements in performance during 2004/05. But he has made clear he wants to see all councils meeting the standard and continuing to improve.
The quarterly figures published today show:
- The number of councils meeting the national standard of 36 days for processing new claims increased from 33 per cent in 2003/04 to 50 per cent in 2004/05 and to 59 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2004/05.
- The average number of days to process new claims reduced from 50 in 2003/04 to 46 days in 2004/05 and to 39 days in the fourth quarter.
- Councils in the bottom 25 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2004/05 took between 42 and 101 days compared with between 59 and 143 days in the same period in 2003/04.
- Some councils have made very big improvements to beat the national standards, Castle Morpeth Council improved from 100 days to 16 days over a year and the London Borough of Harrow improved from 78 days to 33 days over a year.
James Plaskitt said: "I am very pleased to see this significant improvement in the number of councils meeting the target for processing new Housing Benefit claims over the past year. Almost six in ten of all councils are now meeting the target. It shows what councils can do when they give sufficient attention to this issue which is a key plank in our policy for reducing poverty and helping people back into work.
“I am delighted that the Department for Work and Pensions has been able to play a positive role in helping many of these councils to improve, through our programmes of inspection, engagement, funding targeted on performance improvement, and consultancy support through our Performance Development Team. This is an excellent example of central and local government working together to achieve real improvements in peoples’ lives.
The statistics are published on the Department for Work and Pensions website, which can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/other_stats.asp
Note to editors
- These statistics are provided by Local Authorities (LAs) themselves and are un-audited. LAs can update their quarterly statistics at any time so these statistics are subject to change. Some Local Authorities did not return figures for all the quarters.
- The statistics cover the following areas of performance:
- Average time for processing new claims: This indicator measures the average processing time in calendar days across all new claims for which the date of decision is within the quarter. The time for each claim is measured from the date of receipt of the claim at any of the LA’s offices to the date a decision on the claim is made.
- Average number of days for processing written changes of circumstances.
- Percentage of cases calculated correctly. This indicator measures the percentage of cases within a random sample for which the calculation of benefit is found to be correct on the basis of the information available to the decision.
- Percentage of new claims decided within 14 days of receipt of the local authority receiving all necessary information.
- Percentage of new Rent Allowance claims paid where the first payment is made on time.
- Benefit claims may be more numerous or more complicated in areas where:
- A high proportion of applications come from people who live at two or more addresses during the year.
- There is a high proportion of applications from people in privately rented accommodation, where the application process is more complex.
- More people are in shared accommodation.
- The Department is working with the councils with the longest processing times to try and make sure they improve.
Media enquiries Madeleine Jamieson 0207 238 0723
Press office: 0207 238 0866
Out of hours: 07659 108883
Public enquiries: 0207 712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk