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Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (Wrexham County Borough Council)

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Wrexham county borough council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library. In 2004–05 Wrexham county borough council administered some £27 million in housing benefits, about 11 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. The council's anti-fraud section was committed to detecting and preventing benefit fraud. A number of good practices were identified, including:"interviews under caution are witnessed in a high proportion of the cases that were sampled;""all the fraud investigation officers have had professionalism in security training;""appropriate and fully documented use of authorised officers' powers." However, senior management must ensure that all staff are aware of and fully understand the policies and procedures relating to their area of work. The report notes that there is a lack of understanding as to how the council's sanctions policy should be applied, and this has resulted in some sanctions being applied that did not comply with the policy or the Department's guidance. The lack of a systematic checking regime means that the council can only have limited assurance on the quality of its counter-fraud activities. Improvements are also required in the quality and quantity of management information collected and analysed. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is considering the report and may ask the council for its proposals in response to BFI's findings.