Agenda item

Report of Grant Thornton.

The Committee considered the report from Grant Thornton on their certification work for 2012/13. As indicated in the executive summary, two errors had been identified in the Teachers’ Pension return, which were corrected, and the Housing and Council Tax benefits claim was qualified as in previous years. While it was not unusual for Housing and Council Tax benefit claims to be qualified due to the complexity of this area, it was noted that the number of errors had increased compared with the previous year. The Council had undertaken additional testing, and a recommendation had been made for the Council to determine the reasons for the increase in errors within the Housing and Council Tax benefits claim and undertake additional training where necessary.

In response to questions regarding the findings in respect of the Housing and Council Tax benefits claim, Paul Ellicott, Head of Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services, addressed the Committee on the background to the errors identified, and the work that was being undertaken to address this. Mr Ellicott advised that findings had been based on a small sample, and the rate of errors identified was not necessarily representative; it was also reported that almost half of the sample related to assessments undertaken in the 11/12 financial year, which may have affected the rate of errors identified. It was additionally noted that, in the current financial climate, such claims had become increasingly complex. With regard to quality assurance and checking, Mr Ellicott advised that the service had identified a need to increase the amount of time spent on quality control – it was noted that officers who worked on quality control were the same staff as those working on policy change and associated training; with the significant changes in this area of work introduced in the past year, more resources had been devoted to the areas of policy change and training, and there was a need to rebalance workloads to ensure that there was sufficient focus on quality control issues. 

Paul Dossett, Grant Thornton, advised that quality control processes were key to increasing performance in this area and reducing the number of errors. It was noted that the Housing and Council Tax benefits claims were qualified for most local authorities, and that the number of errors identified in Haringey, whilst having increased, was still below the threshold for there to be any impact on the level of funding received from the Department for Work and Pensions.  It was also noted that the additional testing work that the Council had been required to undertake had been done very efficiently. In response to a question from the Committee regarding whether the Housing and Council Tax benefit claim would be unqualified next year if the recommended action was completed in line with the action plan at appendix B, Mr Dossett advised that there may still be a qualification, however this would be significantly shorter.

The Committee sought assurance that there were sufficient resources available to undertake the quality assurance work required, in response to which Tracie Evans advised that she was working with Paul Ellicott to identify where resources could be focussed to best effect; following the significant changes that had been implemented over the past year affecting the work of this service, management were now in a position to review the necessary allocation of resources. In response to a question from the Committee as to whether increased IT investment would help to address any of the issues, Mr Ellicott advised that the majority of issues related to human error rather than system problems.

The Committee asked whether it would be possible to have more regular updates on this area of work, and it was agreed that a report would be brought back to the Committee in six months’ time.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.