§ 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 Swindon Borough 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.
In 2002–03, Swindon Borough Council administered some £34 million in housing benefits, about 13 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
The report concludes that the council had made sustained improvements in some important areas since the current contractor took responsibility for the Benefits service in August 2002.
Between August 2002 and January 2003 it had cleared its backlog of work of some 9,400 cases and made significant improvements in processing new benefit claims, reducing the time taken to determine claims from 89 days on average in 2002–03 to 59 days in 2003–04.
It had also carried out a number of good quality fraud investigations, prosecuting eight benefit fraudsters during 2003–04.
184WSHowever, the council needs to develop a strategic management infrastructure to enable effective management and monitoring of the benefit service. This will also provide senior managers and elected Members with assurance that recommendations from auditors and other regulators are implemented.
The council also needs to do more to process claims accurately, prevent and deter benefit fraud and recover the £2.58 million of housing benefit debt outstanding.
The council have asked for help from the BFI's performance improvement action team.
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.