Benefit Fraud Inspections Council

Work and Pensions written statement – made at on 19 July 2005.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Cherwell district council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04 Cherwell district council administered some £22 million in housing benefits, about 36 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. The council takes a strong stance against benefit fraud. The benefits investigation team is committed to delivering a professional, high-quality service and is well supported by Members and senior managers.

The good practices identified in the report include:

comprehensive guidance for investigators and administration staff, including a code of conduct for investigators; an electronic fraud referral form and development of an on-line fraud awareness training package; good relationships with the council's benefits staff and the Department for Work and Pensions' Counter-Fraud Investigation Service; a high success rate in the prosecution of joint investigation cases.

However, the council did not fully comply with the Department's security against fraud and error scheme nor follow the Department's guidance in some interviews under caution. The report also notes that:

internal audit has not audited the benefits investigation team for seven years; no formal risk assessment of fraud referrals is undertaken; the council does not always follow its own policy criteria when deciding on the most appropriate sanction to offer or document the reasons for not following it; management checks are not carried out consistently and comprehensively, and all action taken during an investigation is not always recorded on the file in accordance with the Department's guidance.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Doncaster metropolitan borough council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04 Doncaster metropolitan borough council administered some £68 million in housing benefits, about 12 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. The council gives a high priority to combating benefit fraud and complies with all significant aspects of the security against fraud and error scheme. The council's investigations team is well supported by members and managers. BFI found a number of good practices, including:

an experienced and well trained investigation team; a comprehensive suite of process control documents; a comprehensive fraud management IT system with a well developed reporting facility; promoting good quality fraud referrals from a variety of sources, particularly the visits team,the benefits team and the Department's Counter-Fraud Investigation Service; setting and achieving demanding sanctions' targets.

The council is providing a high standard counter-fraud service which performs well. For example, from April to December 2004 eight cases were successfully prosecuted and 30 formal cautions and 48 administrative penalties were raised. BFI is concerned, however, that the council do more to gather sufficient evidence in every case leading to an interview under caution. 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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on East Staffordshire borough council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04 East Staffordshire borough council administered some £16 million in housing benefits, about 40 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. Although the council was not at standard for any of the seven functional areas of performance standards it was providing a fair towards good service in housing benefit and council tax benefit administration and counter-fraud activities.

The council had a clear vision and had initiated a major business transformation programme during 2003–04 to radically improve the way it delivered its benefits service. This programme had culminated in the introduction of new IT systems for its benefits and council tax administration and a document image processing system.

As well as implementing new processes and procedures, East Staffordshire Borough Council improved performance. It cut the processing of new claims from an average of 89 days in 2002–03 to an impressive 33 days. A high standard of personal service was being provided to customers by professional, knowledgeable and courteous staff. Readily accessible customer information helped to ensure customer enquiries were dealt with promptly. However, this was let down by very little activity being undertaken to encourage benefit take-up. East Staffordshire borough council had recognised this as an area for improvement and planned to increase customer consultation and take-up initiatives in the future.

However, the council had not made full use of available management information and this and inadequate management checking meant there was limited assurance about the accuracy of claims processed.

Efforts to counter fraud were also improving. The requirements of the verification framework were being met. A number of sanctions, including successful prosecutions and administrative penalties, had been applied. However, more needs to be done to sustain improvement, including the sifting of referrals and management checks on investigations and the use of a wider range of overpayment recovery methods.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Maldon district council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2004–05 Maldon district council administered some £11million in housing benefits, about 50 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure. The council is committed to tackling benefit fraud and its counter-fraud work was well supported by members and senior managers. Demanding targets for fraud work were set and achieved. Investigations were subjected to a thorough checking regime and there was a clear process for authorising and applying sanctions. The council had a good working relationship with the Department's counter-fraud investigation service and had successfully undertaken joint investigations leading to sanctions. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 was strictly adhered to and surveillance activity carried out in accordance with legislation. But the council was not fully complying with the security against fraud and error scheme in that a clear admission to the offence was not obtained before the offer of a caution to the customer.

Investigations resulting in administrative penalties and prosecutions were carried out to a high standard, and interviews under caution were conducted in accordance with the relevant legislation.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Shepway district council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04 Shepway district council administered some £30 million in housing benefits, about 48 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. The council is keen to take a strong stance against benefit fraud. The work of the fraud team is well supported by members, the chief executive and senior officers.

Good practices include:

a code of conduct for counter-fraud investigators; well trained and experienced fraud staff; authorised officers are registered with the Department and are working well, within the legislation; all surveillance is authorised and reviewed regularly; excellent publicity for the prosecutions that the council has undertaken.

However, BFI found weaknesses in the investigation process and in the management of the fraud team, including:

interviews under caution were very brief, with poor interviewing techniques being used in some cases; errors and omissions in both the case log notes and paperwork; the council's sanction criteria are too vague to be applied consistently and reasons for variance are not always fully documented; surveillance was not always proportionate or effective; management checks are not carried out, and all action taken during an investigation is not always recorded on the file in accordance with the Department's guidance.

The council recognises the need to improve practices in those areas and has asked for support from BFI's performance development team.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on North West Leicestershire district council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2004–05 North West Leicestershire district council administered some £13 million in housing benefits, about 28 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. There was commitment at all levels within the council to deter and prevent fraud. The work of the council's benefits inquiry unit was well supported by members and managers and BFI found a number of good practices.

BFI was impressed with the commitment shown by the benefits inquiry unit to combat benefit fraud. It had raised a large number of sanctions in relation to the number of staff and its caseload. However, there were delays in informing suspects of the outcome of the investigation, and no formal management checking of cases. Overall, the council was tackling fraud effectively.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on North Norfolk District Council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04, North Norfolk district council administered some £18 million in housing benefits, about 32 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure. Overall, although the council did not meet any of the seven functional areas of performance standards, it was providing a fair standard in housing benefit and council tax benefit administration and counter-fraud activities.

Surveys by the council showed high levels of customer satisfaction in terms of the physical reception facilities, the quality of advice available and improvements in the speed of the service. But the council had been striving to cope with a backlog of work since June 2004 and processing delays meant performance was below the standards required to decide new claims and changes of circumstances.

The council's counter-fraud work was under-resourced. The council operated from December 2003 until September 2004 without any investigators and had not achieved any successful prosecutions. Overpayments arose because notified changes of circumstances were not dealt with promptly and overpayment recovery was ineffective. Management information necessary to monitor the level and age of housing benefit debt was not collected.

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.

Photo of James Plaskitt James Plaskitt Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection report on Berwick-upon-Tweed borough council was published today and copies have been placed in the Library.

In 2003–04, Berwick-upon-Tweed borough council administered some £5.6 million in housing benefits, about 30 per cent, of its gross revenue expenditure. The council gives high priority to combating benefit fraud and is committed to complying with all aspects of the security against fraud and error scheme. The counter-fraud investigation team works hard to deliver a professional and high quality service. The team is well supported by the leader of the council, members, the chief executive and senior managers.

The report notes a number of good practices, including:

good working relations with key stakeholders; a high standard of recording and filing of documentation in case files; a high percentage of referrals investigated; accurate subsidy claims that fully comply with Departmental guidance; vigorous recovery of fraud overpayments and administrative penalties.

However, some important weaknesses were identified:

poor interviewing techniques; delays in investigation activity; interviews under caution not fully complying with legislation and Departmental guidance; no systematic management checking regime;

The council demonstrated its commitment to improve performance by revising some procedures during the on-site phase of the inspection, including the management of formal cautions, and by acknowledging that other areas need improvement.

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.