"Obviously,
senior members of our profession are used to working with
a wide range of organisations. I have found the BFI to be
very different. They have generally developed innovative
approaches to fulfilling their remit. They are always
looking at new ways to take on complex problems in
partnership with others" (Martin Cook, Public Sector
Fraud Expert, Ernst & Young)
Our inspection methodology
was developed during a series of trial inspections before
our official launch in November 1997. Central to that
methodology are our Business Process Models (BPMs) which
set out the scope of our work and the steps we have to
take. The BPMs ensure consistency and thoroughness across
our inspections, and underpin quality by setting out a
minimum set of operational standards. We use the BPMs as
the solid foundation for our work but we fully recognise
that each inspection must be tailored to the particular
circumstances and needs of those we inspect. Each
inspected body, be it local authority or DSS agency
office, is unique, and we take great care to identify
what makes the inspected body different and to tailor our
inspection of it accordingly. We must retain a flexible,
intelligent approach to inspections based on the rigour
the BPMs provide.
Figure 1.1 below provides
a summary of our development from the early trial
inspections through to the current programme of full
inspections and on into our future plans.
Figure
1.1 – Inspection timetable
Local Authorities
We spent five months
developing and refining our inspection methodology for
local authorities in partnership with Wyre, Camden,
Edinburgh, Newcastle and Torfaen councils. The time
invested by the staff in these authorities has been
invaluable. To ensure that our methodology is rigorous
and effective, we invited external experts to evaluate
the trial inspections. These external evaluations
included asking those inspected what their verdict on BFI
was.
"I
was apprehensive before the Inspection Team arrived but
was pleasantly surprised to find that the staff were
open, approachable and professional. The inspection
proved to be a positive experience, identifying areas for
improvement and reassurance the other procedures were
working well" (Wendy Gibson, Benefit Administrator,
Teesdale District Council)
Our inspections focus on
local authorities’ administration of Housing and
Council Tax benefits. In brief, the inspection process
that we have developed consists of:
- the development of a
pen picture identifying the perceived strengths
and weaknesses of the administrator in both
administration and counter-fraud areas of work;
- fieldwork – the
pen picture enables inspection teams to
concentrate their efforts, in terms of
interviewing, data analysis and sampling which
keeps demands on those inspected to a minimum;
and
- a report documenting
findings and making recommendations. This is
passed to the Secretary of State prior to
external publication.
Figure 1.2 demonstrates
the life cycle of this process, which is described in
greater detail in our report of the inspection of
Blackpool Borough Council – a copy of which is
available from the address at the back of this report.
Figure
1.2 – The life cycle of the inspection process
The Benefits
Agency
We recognised that
inspecting the whole of the Benefits Agency (BA) would
not immediately be possible, given the scale of their
operations and the newness of the BFI. We therefore
agreed with the agency to focus initially on all aspects
of the delivery of two major benefits – Income
Support and Incapacity Benefit – which together
represent a major part of the agency’s business and
of the government’s spend on Social Security.
…there
needs to be enough flexibility to accommodate the
differing roles and responsibilities of the authorities
and agencies
The Chief Executive of the
BA welcomes this approach, which involves inspecting some
of the main customer service and processing sites, the
Benefit Fraud Investigation Service (Benefit
Investigation Service in Scotland) and the interface with
all local authorities within the Area Directorate’s
boundaries.
To maintain
even-handedness in our approach, it is important that
there is consistency in our methodology. However, there
needs to be enough flexibility to accommodate the
differing roles and responsibilities of the authorities
and agencies. We worked in partnership with the BA West
of Scotland Area Director and his management team to test
and evaluate our generic inspection methodology against
the wider-ranging scope of the BA inspection. Their
co-operation and constructive input has been invaluable
in helping us to refine the process for our first real
inspection of the BA in London South Area Directorate.
Child Support
Agency
The Child Support Agency
(CSA) recognised that more needed to be done on fraud
and, to that end, the Chief Executive invited us to
undertake a scoping study to set out the extent and
nature of the BFI’s inspection activity with the
CSA. We have now agreed with the CSA that an inspection
plan will be drawn up by the BFI. Through our initial
inspections we will be able to develop a detailed
methodology for use on future CSA inspections. We will
also use our experience in the CSA to inform further
development of our inspection methodologies for local
authorities and other DSS agencies to ensure that factors
relevant to the performance of the CSA are adequately
covered.
Contributions
Agency
The Chief Executive of the
Contributions Agency (CA) took a similarly pro-active
approach, inviting us to begin inspection of the
Agency’s work. More recently we were also asked by
Social Security Ministers to carry out a specific
inspection to provide them with assurance about the
effectiveness of work planned to secure National
Insurance accounts and numbers – a large part of the
Agency’s business. In this instance our inspection
will also need to take account of the impact of the
CA’s transfer to become an executive office of the
Inland Revenue from April 1999.
Northern Ireland
The
Housing Executive (HE) – The Northern Ireland Department of
Health and Social Services (DHSS) invited us to conduct a
trial inspection of the Housing Executive. This is being
provided by the BFI on a consultancy basis, as we have no
automatic remit for inspections in Northern Ireland. The
results of the trial will be used to inform the potential
development of a programme of inspections in the Northern
Ireland Housing Executive. The inspection methodology is
largely based on the approach to local authority
inspections in Great Britain, with some minor adaptations
to reflect the organisational differences.
Northern Ireland
Social Security Agency (NI SSA) – Normally our only inspection of the
SSA would have been, during the HE inspection, to look at
interfaces between the two organisations. Instead the
Chief Executive of the SSA, keen to take a pro-active
approach, invited the BFI to additionally inspect and
report on the performance of the Social Security Agency
at an early stage. The work focused on Invalid Care
Allowance, Income Support claims from farmers and the
entire Fraud and Prosecutions Branch. Again, this
inspection was agreed on a consultancy basis, this time
tailoring the methodology that was developed during the
Benefits Agency inspections. The emerging findings from
the trial have been very well received by the SSA in
terms of adding value to administration, counter fraud
activity and also benchmarking against other
organisations.
As
clear, recurrent themes begin to emerge from our
inspections we will be looking to find effective ways of
sharing both lessons learnt and the vast array of
experience with other administrators at the sharp end
 Evolution
The approach to our core
work of inspections continues to evolve and we are
constantly learning from experience. We are also
committed to contributing to policy development by other
means. Our recent report on fraud measurement is a good
example, showing that we are well-equipped to undertake
issue-based work of this kind as well as inspections. We
will look to develop this model over the coming year.
Another area that we must
continue to develop further is the spreading of good
practice. As clear, recurrent themes begin to emerge from
our inspections we will be looking to find effective ways
of sharing lessons learnt with administrators. There is a
vast array of experience and good practice that must be
made available at the sharp end.
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