Agenda item

The external auditors update report to Corporate Committee on Thursday 26 November 2015 highlighted errors in the processing of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction Claims.  This report sets out the key areas of concern raised by the external auditors and shows the action plan being implemented by officers to address the concerns raised.

The Committee considered the report on the actions taken following external audit of the Housing Benefit Subsidy claim for 2014/15, introduced by Amelia Hadjimichael, Head of Benefits – Shared Service Centre. The report set out the key areas of concern raised by the auditors and the actions being implemented to address these. It was noted that this was a complex area, with frequent changes to the regulations and guidance as the Welfare Reform programme progressed. The area where the highest number of errors had occurred was earned income and self employed income; this was an area that had become increasingly complex, particularly in relation to issues such as zero-hours contracts.

The Committee asked whether the Council monitored whether errors were in the Council’s or claimants’ favour and it was confirmed that this was monitored. It was noted that errors often arose from the Council not being informed of changes in circumstances; the DWP and HMRC now provided the Council with updated information on a monthly basis, and this could result in the Council having to make amendments going back three or four years. It was agreed that details of the respective number and value of errors in the Council’s and claimants’ favour would be circulated to the Committee outside the meeting.

Action: Amelia Hadjimichael / Carla Segel

The Committee noted that, where the number of errors exceeded a threshold level, the Council incurred a financial penalty and that this had been exceeded in the 2014/15 year. The Chief Operating Officer advised the focussed action plan as set out in the report was intended to address this issue and ensure that the number of errors was below the threshold in future.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding what happened when an error was identified in respect of a claimant that had left the borough, Ms Hadjimichael advised that every effort was made to trace people in these circumstances. The Committee expressed concern arising from casework where residents on Pension Credit had had their benefits automatically suspended as a result of very small increases in their Pension Credit, which were considered as an undeclared change of circumstances. The suspension of benefits had led to notices seeking possession being issued, which was extremely distressing, particularly as this was an issue affecting older residents. Ms Hadjimichael acknowledged that this was an issue arising from automatic suspension of benefits, and reported that targeted work was undertaken in January, when the Pension Credit information was received, to try to deal with these cases as quickly as possible to minimise the impact on the residents affected. 

The Committee asked about the appointment of the four team leaders as set out in the action plan. It was reported that these appointments had been made as part of a wider restructure and had therefore not significantly affected the overall staffing costs in this area.

It was agreed that a further update on this area of work be provided to the Committee later in the year.

RESOLVED

That the work now being undertaken by officers to address the concerns of the external auditors be noted.