---

Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement about the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of (a) Babergh and (b) Swale district councils. [76866] Malcolm Wicks: The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's (BFI) follow up inspection report on Babergh District Council was published on 10 October 2002 and copies of the report were placed in the Library. The BFI first inspected and published a report on Babergh District Council in April 2000. This report finds that Babergh District Council had made significant improvements since the first inspection. Despite backlogs of work, the council had made progress in its housing benefits administration and counter fraud work. Throughout the inspection, BFI identified improvements and good practices that had been implemented since the first inspection. The report finds that the council had introduced initiatives to raise awareness of housing benefits among its residents, and had reviewed its Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claim form. The council had introduced the Verification Framework, improving the collection and recording of evidence to support new claims for benefit, and it was identifying and checking any inconsistencies to reduce fraud and error. All new claims were subject to a 100 per cent. quality check. However, the report finds that the council needed to improve its evidence gathering for renewal benefit claims and not make awards before all the necessary evidence was collected. The report finds backlogs of work, arising from the simultaneous implementation of the Verification Framework and a new IT system for processing housing benefits claims, which were severely affecting the processing times for all claims. The report finds a marked improvement in counter fraud work, with investigators receiving Professionalism in Security training and a full range of investigations being undertaken. The District Auditor had reported satisfaction with the council's counter fraud measures. Overpayments had increased since the first inspection, mainly due to the backlogs of work and IT changes. Levels of recovery had dropped and overpayment cases were not well documented or subject to quality checks. In 2000-01, Babergh District Council administered approximately £12.8 million in housing benefits. 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. The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's (BFI) follow up inspection report on Swale Borough Council was published on 25 September 2002 and copies of the report were placed in the Library. The BFI first inspected and published a report on Swale Borough Council in April 2000. The report found that while the council demonstrated some good working practices, the efficiency and security of the benefits system was compromised by a backlog of work and a lack of a clear sense of direction and purpose in its counter fraud strategy. At that time, the council had undergone a period of significant change. This report finds that of the 40 recommendations made in the April 2000 report, the council had implemented 6 in full, partially implemented 24 and not implemented 10. The report commends Swale Borough Council for its commitment in clearing the backlog of work, which was having a detrimental effect during BFI's first inspection. This required a heavy investment in increasing and training its staffing on the benefit section. There have also been improvements in the council's benefit claim form, the levels of verification and the speed of processing claims and notifications of change of circumstances. There were still problems with the council's counter fraud operations. BFI reports that a lack of effective management had hampered the way that the unit operated. The report finds a general lack of management checking and controls to guard the system against fraud, error and abuse. The report finds significant problems with overpayments not being accurately classified and the situation had worsened since the first report. The council did not always impose the maximum deduction for the recovery of fraudulent overpayments. The counter fraud operation was not being sufficiently managed and there was minimal management checking and little direction during fraud investigations. The council's post opening operation was found to be insecure and BFI expresses concern to find that numerous recommendations made in this area in the first report remained unactioned. In conclusion, the council had only partially delivered the improvements that it said it would in its response to the Secretary of State following the publication of the BFI's first inspection report, published in April 2000. 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.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

76866; 391 c136-8W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Council tax benefits Abuse Administration Housing benefit Fraud Inspections Social security benefits Standards Swale Borough Council Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Babergh District Council Swale Babergh

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk