---

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (Mid-Suffolk District Council)

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on mid-Suffolk district council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library. In 2003–04, mid-Suffolk district council administered some £6.6 million in housing benefits, about 29 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. In the final quarter of 2003–04 the council was taking 96 days on average to process new claims for housing benefits against the standard of 36 days. This placed it in the bottom 15 per cent. of local authorities for reported performance. BFI found that during 2003–04 the council had introduced a new benefits IT system, recruited benefits managers and addressed other resourcing issues in the benefits service. Reported claims processing performance dipped in the period following the introduction of the new benefits IT system. However, a recovery plan was agreed and the backlog of work was managed impressively and cleared between April and October 2004. This was reflected in a dramatic improvement in the speed of processing new claims, to 29 days by October 2004. Verification of claims was also being undertaken to a high standard. The council acknowledged that the improved performance was achieved at the expense of management assurance and indicated that it intended to implement improvements in assurance as a priority. Mid-Suffolk district council also needs to develop procedural guidance and structure its approach to training staff. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and may ask the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings.