§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris PondOn behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Isle of Wight Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
17WSFollowing 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.
The BFI inspected Isle of Wight Council against the performance standards for housing benefits. The report finds that the council is not at standard for any of the seven functional areas of the performance standards—strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, working with landlords, internal security, counter-fraud, and overpayments.
Isle of Wight Council's performance on benefit administration was mixed. Verification of evidence to support new and renewal claims was generally completed to standard. However, delays in processing of claims, and in processing changes of circumstances, meant that performance was significantly below targets. New benefit claims were taking an average of 75 days to clear compared with the national target of 36 days. Overpayments were being allowed to continue because notified changes of circumstances were not being dealt with promptly.
A new benefits claim form based on the Department for Work and Pensions' national model was introduced from April 2003 which fully meets the requirements of the Standards.
The performance of the council's fraud investigation team was variable. The team appeared to take the majority of investigations through to their natural conclusion, but the action taken on cases and the reasons for decisions made were not adequately recorded.
Benefit overpayments were being recovered effectively from ongoing benefit, but the process for cases where benefit was no longer in payment was less effective.
In 2002–03, Isle of Wight council administered some £39.5 million in housing benefits, about 18 per cent. of its total gross revenue expenditure.
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.