HC Deb 19 December 2000 vol 360 cc97-9W
Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. [143662]

Mr. Rooker

The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report was published today in respect of the London Borough of Waltham Forest and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

The report provides recommendations aimed at helping the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as its counter fraud activities.

Inspectors found that Waltham Forest had clear aims to provide high quality benefit service, but this aim is not always being met. Waltham Forest had contracted out benefits administration in 1999. Since then, a backlog of work had developed on a number of occasions which meant that the requirement to process benefit claims within 14 days is not now being met and there are frequent breaks in payment.

Weaknesses were also found in the verification of information and the testing of the accuracy and quality of the work being done. The report notes that while there were some good counter fraud practices in place, this good work is undermined by a failure properly to establish fraud, resulting in weekly benefit savings being incorrectly claimed. Inspectors consider Waltham Forest also needs to do some work to increase the levels of deterrence offered to those committing fraud.

The report notes a number of positive aspects to Waltham Forest's performance. It provides good services for new claimants, has a good claim form and makes sure claimants make further claims at the right time.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the findings and recommendations of the BFI.

Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of the London Borough of Newham. [143660]

Mr. Rooker

The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report was published today in respect of the London Borough of Newham and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

The report provides recommendations aimed at helping the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as its counter fraud activities.

Inspectors found that Newham had some good working practices, but the efficiency, responsiveness and security of the benefits system was compromised by a substantial backlog of work and lengthy delays. The report notes that after Newham contracted out the benefits administration in 1999, customer dissatisfaction increased sharply, remedial expenditure outweighed any savings that might have been made, and benefits work fell badly into arrears. These arrears caused further deterioration of Newham's service and prompted it to defer the introduction of the Verification Framework, leaving it at greater risk of making incorrect benefit payments.

Inspectors found the lack of a counter fraud manager in the past and an ineffective prosecution policy have limited Newham's counter fraud work. BFI notes Newham's fraud investigations were poor and needed considerable improvement in the preparation and quality of work undertaken.

The report notes that Newham is keenly aware of the deficiencies in the current benefits operation and has recently introduced significant improvement programmes. It has had some success working with the contractor to clear backlogs and address inefficiencies and has developed an action plan to tackle the weaknesses in countering fraud.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the findings and recommendations of the BFI.

Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of Leeds City Council. [143659]

Mr. Rooker

The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report was published today in respect of the Leeds City Council and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

The report provides recommendations aimed at helping the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as its counter fraud activities.

Inspectors report that there is no doubting Leeds' desire to provide a good service to benefit claimants and at the time of the inspection the council was processing new claims quickly, an important component of the quality of service available to claimants. The council has, to its credit, implemented the Verification Framework; however, inspectors found that there were weaknesses in verification and consider that the council could strike a better balance between clearance rates and the need to verify claims.

Although Leeds has implemented the Verification Framework (VF), Inspectors found there were weaknesses in verification. At the time of inspection, Leeds processed new claims quickly, which contributed significantly to the quality of service offered to claimants. Nonetheless, inspectors considered that the council could strike a better balance between clearance rates and the need to verify claims.

Inspectors found that Leeds makes effective use of management information to manage the workload, resulting in no significant arrears of new claims. However, the report notes that the council did not renew any claims for most of 1999 as it was changing its IT system to support the implementation of VF. This created significant backlogs, contravened regulations and has potential subsidy implications for the authority.

The BFI notes the council's commitment to tackling fraud but reports that the standard of fraud investigations is inadequate, with most investigations only scratching the surface. The report recommends that Leeds should improve the quality of its investigative work and develop a corporate counter fraud policy and strategy.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the findings and recommendations of the BFI.

Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish the responses to the consultation document 'Safeguarding Social Security: Getting the information we need'. [143661]

Mr. Rooker

We have placed a summary of the responses in the Library and have arranged for copies to be sent to all those who replied.