§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken by each local authority in England and Scotland to process new housing benefit applications was in the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [63692]
§ Malcolm WicksUnder Best Value, we have set a range of performance indicators for Housing Benefit which are designed to ensure that authorities provide their communities with a faster, more accurate service which is more secure against fraud, and which provides value for money and takes account of the views and needs of clients. Authorities are required to set challenging local targets against the indicators and, from April 2002, have been set aspirational targets for speed of processing.
The first full year in which data was collected on the performance of local authorities against Best Value performance indicators was 2000–01. Information on the average time taken by each local authority in England to process new Housing Benefit claims for 2000–01 has been placed in the Library.
676WInformation on the average time taken by each local authority in Scotland to process new Housing Benefit claims for 2000–01 is in the Accounts Commission publication "Performance Indicators 2000–01: Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues", a copy of which is available in the Library.