HC Deb 29 January 2003 vol 398 cc42-4WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Malcolm Wicks):

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Angus Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

This follow-up report finds that Angus Council has responded positively to the BFI's first inspection in May 2000 and has made many improvements in the way that it administers and counters fraud in housing benefit and council tax benefit. For example, the council has introduced the Verification Framework and a new claim form to make the benefits gateway more secure.

The council has also improved the quality of its fraud investigations and this has enabled it to make good use of sanctions as a deterrent. Importantly the council has significantly increased the number of staff employed in benefits and counter-fraud work.

This report notes that the council has acknowledged that it still needs to improve in some areas. In particular, it needs to improve its speed of benefits claims processing and to do this it must finally eradicate its small backlog of work that had built up since the middle of 2001–02.

Senior officers and elected Members have a close interest in benefits and counter-fraud activity and were closely monitoring efforts to clear the backlog.

In the first inspection, the BFI reported that the council needed to make better use of a wider range of methods to recover overpaid benefits. This follow-up report finds that the council has put in place effective processes and is performing well against targets. However, to prevent the total debt outstanding rising year on year, the council will need to increase the rates at which it makes recoveries.

In 2001–02, Angus Council administered approximately £20.5 million in housing benefits. This is approximately 9 per cent. of its total gross revenue expenditure.

The report makes recommendations to help the council address the remaining 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 findings and recommendations of the BFI.