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WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Report (Milton Keynes Council)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Milton Keynes Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
Following 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.
In 2002–03, Milton Keynes council administered some £48.3 million in housing benefits, about 18.5 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure. BFI inspected Milton Keynes council against the performance standards for housing benefits, and concludes that the council's benefits service had not reached standard in any of the seven functional areas—strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, working with landlords, internal security, counter-fraud and overpayments.
The report finds that the benefits service had been given low priority within the council in the past and performance overall had been poor. However, several significant changes had taken place over the past two years, including a complete service restructure and the replacement of its benefits IT system.
The December 2002 comprehensive performance assessment classified the council as poor. Since then progress had been made across many areas of the performance standards. The claims backlog had reduced considerably since 2002 but it was still having an impact on claims processing times. Times taken to process new benefit claims and changes of circumstances were reducing but still did not meet the performance standards. Processing times for new claims had reduced to an average 49 days from 68 days compared with the performance standard of 36 days. The council processed changes of circumstances in 13 days, compared to the standard of nine days.
The council's counter-fraud performance was strong, with successful sanctions against benefit fraudsters and excellent relations with the Department's counter fraud investigation service. However, the council needs to develop procedural guidance for investigators and do more management checks.
The council did not have an overpayment policy or debt recovery strategy. However, actions plans, developed with the support of BFI's performance improvement action team, had been in place since March 2003 and these were having a positive impact on the recovery of overpaid benefits.
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The council further demonstrated its commitment to improvement by entering into a public private partnership agreement, in January 2004, to deliver a number of its services, including benefits.
The major challenge for the council now is to continue to improve its benefits processing performance. This will be helped by a more systematic approach to planning, backed up by improvements to its management information and reporting systems.
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.
Over 50s Outreach Pilot
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): In December 2002, the Government published the Pensions Green Paper: "Simplicity, Security and Choice: Working and Saving for Retirement." Chapter 6: "Extending Opportunities for Older Workers" sets out a range of measures to increase employment among older workers, which is considered essential to address the pensions challenge.
The Over 50s Outreach pilot is one of these measures and supports PSA target 4c: In the three years to 2006, to increase the employment rate of people aged 50 and over, taking account of the economic cycle, and significantly reduce the difference between their employment rate and the overall rate.
Research has shown that contact from Jobcentre Plus can concern people aged over 50, particularly those on benefits such as incapacity benefit (IB), income support (IS), and severe disability allowance. Clients on these benefits may be concerned about Jobcentre Plus forcing them into work, or reducing their benefits, if queries about work are made, in spite of assurances from Jobcentre Plus to the contrary.
The pilot involves external organisations acting as an intermediary between the Jobcentre and the customer. These organisations will:
contact people aged 50 and over who are not in work, and encourage their use of Jobcentre Plus services or volunteering opportunities;
market the back to work help, employment and volunteering opportunities available and overcoming the concerns of some IB and IS clients that their benefits may be affected if they approach a Jobcentre Plus office with a work related enquiry; and
promote the back to work help available through Jobcentre Plus to people aged 50 and over who may not be aware of this help or who do not normally have contact with Jobcentre Plus.
The evaluation of these pilots will demonstrate what methods of contact and awareness raising worked most successfully to encourage people who would not otherwise have asked about or taken up Jobcentre Plus services and work or volunteering opportunities to do so. The methods that are most successful can then be disseminated throughout Jobcentre Plus to be incorporated into the continuous improvement of their services.
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The pilot will run in seven Jobcentre Plus regions for two years and commenced in April 2004. The organisations that successfully tendered for the pilot are as follows:
| Region | District | Partner Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Wales | Cardiff & Vale | Working Links |
| North East | Newcastle & North Tyneside | Age Concern North Tyneside |
| North West | Wigan | Adactus Housing Group |
| North West | Liverpool | Forty Plus |
| West Midlands | Dudley & Sandwell | Pertemps Employment Alliance |
| Scotland | Lanarkshire | South Lanarkshire Council |
| Scotland | Fife | Instep |
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Design Coding (Pilot Programme)
The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. John Prescott): The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is today launching the design coding pilots programme. Kate Barker in her review of housing supply identified significant levels of undersupply, and a lack of certainty and speed in the planning process. This programme aims to test the use of design coding as a means to accelerate the delivery of housing while maintaining the high level of design content required to ensure that new development contributes fully towards improving the quality of our villages, towns and cities.
A design code is a set of specific rules or requirements to guide the physical development of a site or a place. The aim of design coding is to provide clarity as to what constitutes acceptable design quality, and thereby a level of certainty for developers and the local community alike, that can help to accelerate the delivery of good quality new development.
Operating over a number of different development circumstances, the pilots will be carefully monitored over the coming year and will provide the means to evaluate various models and approaches for developing, adopting and implementing design codes. Depending on the outcome, the review may inform the development of future planning policy.
The Government wish to test the potential for design coding as a means of delivering higher quality development at greater speed through the planning process. The development projects which they have chosen to monitor and evaluate in order to assess the effectiveness of the coding approach are subject to approval through the planning system in the normal way. It is possible that some of these projects may, at a later stage, be referred to the Secretary of State for decision (for example on whether an application should be called in for his own determination or on an appeal against the decision of a local planning authority).
For the avoidance of doubt, partners involved in the design coding exercise should understand that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is encouraging the use of
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coding on these sites without prejudice to any decisions the Secretary of State may be required to take through his formal role in the planning process. The fact that development is proposed in accordance with a design code does not imply that the Secretary of State is content for any particular development proposal to proceed. Any decisions which fall to be made will be taken having regard to the facts and merits of the case, taking into consideration all relevant matters.
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