Agenda item

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources.

The Committee considered a report on the benefits error rate.

The Senior Client Officer updated the Committee on the benefits error rate. She advised the Committee that the report had been produced following the Committee’s request for further information on the processes undertaken to date. 

The Senior Client Officer stated that the July Civica performance report had confirmed the current annual local authority error rate was well within the threshold set by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).  It was noted that the Council would be penalised if the threshold was exceeded.

Councillor Hobbs expressed concern at the level of errors and highlighted the number of financial errors that had resulted in overpayments.  He referred to paragraph 3.2 of the report and suggested performance indicators should be included in the Council’s contract with Civica.

The Senior Client Officer suggested improvements could be made to Civica’s system of internal quality checks and stated that she would be happy to continue discussions with Civica regarding the error rate.

Councillor McLellan highlighted the impact of overpayments on claimants and questioned the timescale for repayment. He was advised by the Senior Client Officer that the timescale for repayment varied and that in some cases it would be deducted from future payments.

The Senior Client Officer reminded Members that a significant number of customers claim both Council Tax Support and Housing Benefit and that one error would make both benefits incorrect.  It was noted that the majority of errors were due to keying mistakes.

Councillor Hobbs suggested the Committee continue to track the error rate and review the issue on a regular basis.

In response to a question from Members, the Senior Client Officer advised the Committee that there had been difficulties obtaining data on the benefits error rate of other local authorities. She stated that local authorities frequently used different methods to record the error rate meaning it would be difficult to compare data. It was noted that it would be most appropriate to compare the error rate to the rate found at the Forest of Dean District Council where similar methods were used to record errors.

Councillor Gravells suggested that any conclusions drawn from comparative data should be viewed with caution as they would only provide the error rate with some context.   He questioned whether there were any penalties in the Council’s contract with Civica for high levels of error and whether any trends had been identified to explain the cause of the errors.

The Senior Client Officer informed the Committee that no trends had been identified and that the errors had been found throughout the benefits assessment process.

Members of the Committee agreed that the benefits error rate should be reviewed quarterly and requested further information on the overpayments that had been recorded and anonymised examples of some of the errors that had been identified. 

Councillor D. Norman agreed the Council’s contract with Civica needed reviewing, particularly in light of its renewal until 2021, and agreed to speak with the responsible officers on the Committee’s behalf. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that further updates be added to the work programme on a quarterly basis.