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New Code of Audit Practice

The Minister for Local and Regional Government (Mr. Nick Raynsford): I have laid the Audit Commission's revised code of audit practice for consideration by the House. If approved, the code will prescribe the way in which auditors, appointed by the commission, are to carry out their functions to audit local government and NHS bodies under the Audit Commission Act 1998.

The Act requires the code to be approved by both Houses at least every five years. The current version of the code was approved in March 2000. The legislation also provides for the preparation of a "different code" with respect to the audit of accounts of health services bodies. The Audit Commission has decided to prepare separate codes for local government and the NHS, primarily to reflect the increasingly divergent accounting, corporate governance and performance management frameworks in the two sectors, but also to facilitate the process of agreeing with the Healthcare Commission those elements of the draft NHS code which relate to auditors' local value-for-money work.

The new codes reflect the significant changes both in the operating environment of local government and NHS bodies and in auditing standards and practice since the current code was prepared.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (Bedford Borough 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 BFI inspection report on Bedford Borough 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 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 2003–04, Bedford Borough Council administered some £37 million in housing benefits, about 52 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
 
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Following an invitation from Bedford Borough Council, BFI carried out an inspection in September 2004. The council's self-assessment against performance standards identified that it had reached standard in five functional areas and was above standard in two functional areas in August 2004.

The inspection found that Bedford Borough Council was indeed providing an excellent benefit service.

A new performance management system and clear strategic and operational planning and staff involvement at all levels resulted in strong performance and at the time of the inspection new claims and changes of circumstances were being processed in 25 days and six days respectively, against standards of 36 days and nine days.

The report notes a great deal of commitment and professionalism in Bedford Borough Council and a determination throughout the organisation to maintain the high level of performance achieved.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report, which I commend to other councils and hope they can use it to help bring about improvement in their own benefits services.

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (London Borough of Harrow)

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 BFI inspection report on London Borough of Harrow 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 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 2003–04, London Borough of Harrow administered some £73 million in housing benefits, about 13 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

The inspection focused on the speed of processing new claims for benefit and changes of circumstances—areas of weakness in the past. The report identifies significant progress made by the council. Since the last inspection the council has introduced a number of changes, including a performance management system and implementing all recommendations relating to the processing of new claims and changes of circumstances made in the August 2003 BFI inspection report.

The report concludes the council's performance against the majority of the best value performance indicators has improved and the council has delivered significant improvements in the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit.

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.
 
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South Gloucestershire Council (Benefit Fraud Inspectorate)

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 BFI focused inspection report on South Gloucestershire Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

I announced on 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 18WS, that BFI would undertake some shorter more focused inspections, designed to provide for quick improvements in performance in specific areas of benefits administration. The first of these inspections focus on the processing of claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit.

In 2003–04 South Gloucestershire Council administered some £34 million in housing benefits, about 10 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

South Gloucestershire council was selected for inspection because it had reported that it was taking 86 days on average to process new claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit in 2003–04. This level of performance was in the bottom quartile of all reported performance and 50 days outside the standard of 36 days.

BFI found weaknesses in the council's benefits administration processes that contributed to this poor performance. These included: user errors, inaccurate management information, delays in transferring claims and further information from one-stop shops and housing offices to the main benefits processing office, delays in setting up council tax accounts and management checking processes that were not fully effective.

The report notes that the council had problems with the interfaces between itself and Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service. Benefits service staff told inspectors that delays in sharing information and issues around the consistency and accuracy of that information had led to delays in the processing of benefit claims. BFI made recommendations to ensure that problems in the exchange of information were quickly addressed and a national initiative by Jobcentre Plus to improve joint working will also help resolve this.

The report makes recommendations to help the council improve and since the inspection the council has informed BFI that the average time taken to process new claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit has fallen to 46 days.

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.

Breckland District Council (Benefit Fraud Inspectorate)

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Chris Pond): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI focused inspection report on Breckland District Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

I announced on 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 18WS, that BFI would undertake shorter more focused inspections, designed to provide for quick
 
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improvements in performance in specific areas of benefits administration. The first of these inspections focus on the processing of claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit.

In 2003–04, Breckland District Council administered some £21 million in housing benefits, about 48 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.

Breckland District Council was selected for inspection as it had demonstrated the capacity steadily to improve its performance for processing new claims. New claims were being processed within an impressive 25 days at the time of BFI's inspection in September 2004. The inspection sought to identify the good practices behind this dramatic improvement.

In August 2003, Breckland District Council had formed the Anglia revenues and benefits partnership with Forest Heath District Council to deliver a revenues and benefits service to customers of both councils.

The partnership incorporated the co-location of Forest Heath and Breckland benefits staff, and a clear corporate vision and objectives that had been translated successfully into paying claims quickly and accurately. The report identified a number of good practices in the areas of management checking, target setting and monitoring.

BFI found that the quality of claims processing was consistently of a very high standard, particularly in verifying claims.

The report makes recommendations to improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit further.

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.

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