§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the 20 councils with the longest times for processing new housing benefit claims, identifying in each case the average time for processing claims. [185706]
§ Mr. PondThe information is in the table.
20 local authorities with the longest processing times for new claims for housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) Average time for processing new claims (calendar days) Local authority HB CTB HB and CTB Bristol 87 90 88 North Ayrshire 79 97 88 Dundee 88 90 89 Flintshire 89 89 89 York 78 108 91 Croydon 83 105 95 East Devon 95 96 96 Mid Suffolk 92 98 96 South Northamptonshire 100 95 97 Torridge 99 96 97 Chelmsford 95 108 101 Lambeth 90 122 104 Renfrewshire 92 115 104 Portsmouth 103 112 107 Leicester 106 122 114 Manchester 137 89 115 Merthyr Tydfil — — 118 Hackney 114 134 123 Liverpool 183 152 167 Swale 182 203 193 Notes: 1. Four local authorities did not supply data for 2003–04. 2. It is not possible to differentiate the housing benefit/council tax benefit data from Merthyr Tydfil. 3. The data are taken from un-audited returns by local authorities to DWP, and are the most recent quarterly data they have returned for 2003–04.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many councils are(a) meeting and (b) not meeting the Government's target for handling new housing benefit claims within 14 days. [185707]
§ Mr. PondThe Department for Work and Pensions does not set a target of 14 days for deciding new claims; the regulations require a claim to be decided within 14 days of the relevant information having been received or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter. The Department launched national Performance Standards in April 2002, which set a standard of 90 per cent. of new housing benefit claims to be decided in 14 days, but these are not mandatory. In the fourth quarter of 2003–04 (the most recent data available) the national average performance was 75 per cent. of new claims decided within 14 days with 23 per cent. of local authorities currently meeting or exceeding the 90 per cent. standard.
In order to improve this performance the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate targets its inspections on those authorities that have the longest processing times. We also provide every local authority chief executive with information as to how they compare against national standards and performance.