Summary and Recommendations
Summary
1 North West Leicestershire is a district council. In 2000/01, it had a gross general fund budget of £30.4 million. It lies at the heart of the East Midlands. North West Leicestershire is a tightly knit community with a history dominated by coal and clay industries. The district is a mix of urban and rural areas with a population of 85,000. There are pockets of deprivation and the district ranks 161st (out of 354) in terms of deprivation. The level of unemployment is below average at 2.5%.
Benefits Service
2 The Benefits Service administers Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB). In 2000/01 North West Leicestershire paid out £10.4 million in HB and CTB. Benefits expenditure represents 34% of the council’s gross expenditure of £30.4 million. The Benefits Service is located in Coalville and employs 14 staff. The Best Value Review (BVR) of the Benefits Service was completed by 3 July 2001.
3 We have inspected the service to make 2 judgements:
- How good is the service?
- Will the service improve?
4 We believe that North West Leicestershire is currently providing a good2 star Benefits Service, but has uncertain prospects for improvement.
5 The scoring chart displays performance in 2 dimensions. The horizontal axis shows how good the service or function is now, on a scale ranging from no stars for a service that is poor (at the left-hand end) to 3 stars for an excellent service (right-hand end). The vertical axis shows the improvement prospects of the service, also on a 4-point scale.
6 Our judgements are based on the evidence gathered during our inspection in December 2001 and are outlined below.
How good is the service?
7 We consider that the Benefits Service is good because:
- customers are pleased with the service and recognise its quality
- the level of customer satisfaction is in the top quartile
- the aims are clear and challenging
- fraudsters are being prosecuted and administrative penalties and cautions are being applied
- levels of performance, measured by Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs), with the exception of overpayment recovery is in the top quartile
- decisions are made quickly and accurately
- the service is low cost
- the council has established good working relationships with other stakeholders, who recognise the high quality of the service.
8 However there are further issues to be addressed :
- investment in IT may be required to improve performance further
- the practice of not always recording overpayments for increases in income of less than £6 per week has led to incorrect subsidy claims
- there has been no formal risk analysis, leading to poor targeting of fraud and other resources.
Will the service improve?
9 We believe that North West Leicestershire’s prospects for improvement are uncertain because:
- Members, staff and stakeholders are very supportive
- resources to drive improvement have been secured, where identified
- a process to monitor improvements has been established
- the service is good and customers and stakeholders are full of praise for it so the scope for significant improvement is limited.
10 However we believe:
- any planned improvements are likely to have minimal effect on customers
- the improvement plan lacks ambition and balance. The identified improvements have not been prioritised
- the challenge to the way in which the council delivers its Benefits Service was not rigorous enough
- there was insufficient analysis of performance to ensure that the council identifies areas for improvement.