§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of the London borough of Lambeth. [1944]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report was published today in respect of the London borough of Lambeth and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as its counter fraud activities.
BFI inspectors found that the council's administration of these benefits is very poor, and that radical improvements are heeded in all but a few areas.
The benefits service has been outsourced to a contractor and, although inspectors consider the terms of the contract are acceptable, the council's management of it has been poor. As a result, the council has failed to eradicate its longstanding, and now, substantial, backlog of work. BFI considers this failure underlies many of the problems that the council now faces.
BFI found that the council compounds its problems by failing to monitor quality, depriving itself of the management information that is needed for improvement.
The report notes the Chief Executive's willingness to accept and implement our recommendations for change demonstrates a commitment to improvement. More recently Lambeth has requested assistance to address its problems from the DWP funded expect help team. The 155W expert help teams will be working with Lambeth to ensure that they have robust plans for achieving a significantly improved benefits service.
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.
§ Paul GogginsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of Manchester City Council. [1945]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report was published today in respect of Manchester City council and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report makes recommendations to help 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 Manchester City council provided a very poor service to claimants, particularly in the time taken to process new claims and changes of circumstances. Considerable backlogs of work had developed, although the report notes the council took steps to deal with the backlog and the situation improved.
The report notes some weaknesses in the verification of new claims and in renewal cases the council focused on ensuring that payment was made rather than making sure that the determination was correct.
Inspectors found weaknesses in the council's counter fraud strategy and concluded that the counter fraud team was under resourced. There were also weaknesses in the identification and classification of overpayments, and the recovery of overpayments was very poor.
Inspectors consider a good number of the problems would have been avoided if the council had planned and managed better the major changes it made in 1999–2000 and earlier.
However, the reports notes the council has said that it has made management and operational changes to address the weaknesses identified by the inspection, especially in work prioritization, structure, communications and recruitment.
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. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of Lincoln City council. [1946]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report was published today in respect of Lincoln City council and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as its counter fraud activities.
156WInspectors found that Lincoln City Council was providing a satisfactory gateway to the benefit systems by ensuring that appropriate verification action was taken before determining claims.
However, there were several areas where the council was not providing a satisfactory or secure service. BFI considers many weaknesses were the result of a long standing backlog of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit work and a lack of good quality management information. Weaknesses included renewal claims not being dealt with promptly, benefit periods being incorrectly set and referrals to the Rent Officer being delayed.
The report notes the council has a prosecution policy but fails to adhere to it. Management and control of counter fraud work was weak, and inspectors found that the council was over-claiming weekly benefit savings.
Apart from the lack of a strategy to clear the backlog of work, the BFI found the council had no clear strategies covering overpayment recovery or its visiting programme.
The report concludes that the council must tackle the backlog of work by producing a clear strategy based on sound management information.
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. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much was spent on countering fraud in Family Credit, and what the estimated savings were in the last three years; [1149]
(2) what his Department spent countering fraud in (a)Income Support and (b)Jobseeker's Allowance, in nominal terms and expressed as a percentage of the relevant benefit expenditure, in the last three years. [1150]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Department set out its strategy for tackling fraud and error in the paper—A new contract for welfare: Safeguarding Social Security (CM 4276)—published on 23 March 1999. The overall aim of the strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment.
The implementation of this strategy means that an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of the Department, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments. It is therefore not possible to account for the cost of anti-fraud work separately.
Family Credit was replaced by Working Families Tax Credit in October 1999. This Tax Credit is administered by the Inland Revenue.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the checks made on continuing claims for benefit with respect to National Insurance are done through access to Inland Revenue records. [1153]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe checks referred to in my noble Friend the then Minister for State's written answer on 11 May 2001,Official Report, columns 387–88W are 157W conducted by Benefits Agency staff on continuing claims to Income Support (IS) or Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Requests for verification are made either to the claimant for documentary evidence in the form of wage slips or pay statements or to the employer or pension provider directly with the claimant's consent. This provides written confirmation of gross pay, details of deductions for tax and National Insurance (NI) and net pay. Where there appears to be a discrepancy in the amount of deductions taken, further inquiries are made to the customer or employer/pension provider.
There are no formal arrangements for the Department to access or check Inland Revenue records.