§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions(Mr. Chris Pond)On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Wokingham District Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The "performance standards for housing benefits" allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
The BFI inspected Wokingham District Council against the performance standards for housing benefits. The report finds that the council is not at standard for any of the seven functional areas of the standards—strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, working with landlords, internal security, counter-fraud, and overpayments.
The report acknowledges the problems and challenges faced by the council since July 2002, when it brought its benefits service back in-house following a period of outsourcing.
The report finds that the council's management information was limited, and where information was being produced, its importance was not being considered. Performance in key areas was not being effectively reported or monitored. This was compounded by a very limited management-checking regime, which meant that the council could not provide any assurances about the quality and accuracy of benefits payments being made.
The process of gathering evidence to support benefits claims was generally good, but the speed of processing claims was poor. The report notes concern about the possible impact that unreasonable delays were having on existing and potential customers.
37WSThe council's fraud investigations were generally effective and procedures were in place to consider the most appropriate sanction to apply. However, a lack of active management for administration work resulted in unreasonable time delays, which in turn affected the council's ability to prosecute fraudsters. Effective debt recovery on overpayments was similarly being hampered by slow decision making.
In 2002–03, Wokingham District Council administered some £13.1 million in housing benefits, about 8.4 per cent of its total gross revenue expenditure.
The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
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 BFI's findings and recommendations.