Profiling
Background
13 The Kent borough of Ashford contains the town of Ashford and many outlying smaller towns and villages. It has a population of approximately 93,000. Ashford is 20 miles from Dover, and has its own international railway, connecting it with Paris in 2 hours and Brussels in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
14 Ashford recognises its position as a tourist centre with its proximity to the coast, Canterbury, Maidstone and London. A major freight clearance depot for the Channel Tunnel has been built in Ashford, and there are several business parks in the borough. There is a growing retail sector, which is notable for the award-winning designer outlet on the outskirts of the town, next to the international railway.
The Benefits Service in Ashford Borough Council
15 Ashford administers HB, including fraud investigation and overpayment recovery, from its offices in the Civic Centre in Ashford. HB administration, reception and counter-fraud work is part of the Revenues and Benefits Service. Revenues and Benefits Services is part of Central Services, which also consists of Financial Services, ICT, Legal Administration and Human Resources. Rent Allowance overpayments are recovered by Financial Services, and Rent Rebate overpayments are recovered by Ashford Weald Housing Services (Ashford's in-house housing department).
16 The Revenues and Benefits Services manager reports to the Director of Central Services, one of three directorates in Ashford – the other two are Community Services and Development Services.
17 The Service Plan states that ABS's aims are to:
- develop an active community focused service
- have quality efficient organisational policies, processes and planning arrangements
- invest in and develop our people
- maintain effective management of our finances; and
- maintain secure accurate services.
18 There are 27 staff administering £19.283 million in benefits to 11,915 benefit claimants (see table, below). There are also 5 staff responsible for counter-fraud activities, although 4 of these work generically. By this we mean they all cover a range of different tasks that would be more usually undertaken by a number of specialists including VF visits, welfare visits, Council Tax and Business Rates inspections and benefit fraud investigations. Therefore they may only spend about 25 per cent of their time on investigation duties.
| Benefit type | 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/2000 | 2000/01 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent Allowance | 5,430 | 5,279 | 5,294 | 5,290 |
| Rent Rebate | 10,417 | 9,961 | 9,933 | 9,691 |
| CTB | 4,347 | 4,126 | 4,546 | 4,302 |
| Total | 20,194 | 19,366 | 19,774 | 19,283 |
Source: Ashford
19 The table below shows Ashford’s share of the national target for fraud Weekly Benefit Savings (WBS) for the last four years. The table shows that Ashford has consistently claimed more than twice its share of the national target (or ‘threshold’). This is impressive in the context of a tightening regime.
| 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/2000 | 2000/01 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBS threshold | 180,870 |
182,348 |
185,705 |
167,321 |
| WBS achieved | 621,298 |
423,599 |
449,704 |
395,189 |
| Percentage | 344 |
232 |
242 |
236 |
Source: Ashford