Allerdale Borough Council

June 2002

Highlighted parts of this report are omitted from the published version as they may assist fraudsters, contain confidential information or unnecessarily identify individuals.

Contents

• Conclusions
• Recommendations
  • Getting it right
  • Keeping it right
  • Putting it right
• Findings
  • Introduction
  • Getting it right
  • Benefit service accessibility
  • Verification work
  • Residency and liability
  • Rent Officer referrals
  • Management controls
  • Backlogs
  • Speed of processing
  • Payments on account
  • Liaison with Housing Associations
  • Liaison with Benefits Agency
  • Liaison with Employment Service
  • Keeping it right
  • Renewal claims
  • Changes in circumstances
  • Decision notices
  • Risk assessing claims
  • Benefit periods
  • Complaints
  • Dealing with landlords
  • Payment and accounting methods
  • Training and guidance
  • Internal security and controls
  • Procedures
  • Putting it right
  • Overpayments
  • Fraud
  • Making sure the strategy works
  • Corporate strategy
  • Corporate management
  • Performance monitoring and assurance
  • Members’ involvement
  • Internal Audit
  • District Audit
• Appendix A: Progress since last inspection
• Abbreviations

A list of the abbreviations used in this report follows...