· includes a specific reference to achieve Performance Standards in its Mission Statement

· obtains Members’ endorsement for the Mission Statement

· refers to the Mission Statement in its Community plan and Best Value Performance plan

· communicates the Mission Statement to all HB staff.

· sets specific objectives to meet, over time, the full range of Performance Standards

· establishes a mechanism to review these strategic policies and objectives as part of its annual planning cycle

· ensures that Members annually endorse all strategic policies and objectives

· documents its policies in the areas of training and benefit take-up.

· ensures change management plans recognise the impact on all stakeholders

· communicates its plans to all stakeholders

· revises its Business Continuity plan to cover responses to disruptions that impact on normal HB and CTB administration

· regularly tests and reviews its Business Continuity and operational plans

· ensures Benefits service and other associated staff are familiar with the contents of the Business Continuity and operational plans.

· ensures that:

· ensures:

· analyses available management information to establish areas of low benefit take-up.

· develops a training plan

· operates a training programme for all Benefits service staff, covering all key areas of HB delivery

· evaluates training and uses these evaluations to review and revise training programmes

· ensures that job descriptions properly reflect the work of the jobholders and that personal work objectives reflect corporate objectives

· provides specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed work objectives.

· sets up a process to regularly review user access levels and take appropriate action.

· ensures that internal audits focus on assessing performance against Performance Standards.

· actively communicates its race equality scheme to staff

· provides general training to HB and CTB staff on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

· provides cultural awareness training to all Benefits service staff aimed at promoting racial equality

· conducts an annual review on all the facilities provided for customers of key ethnic minority groups in the area

· produces a 3-year action plan to:

· improves its internal liaison by ensuring that minutes are taken and conducting an annual evaluation to ensure that internal liaison mechanisms are operating effectively

· publishes the results of the regular monitoring of internal working arrangements, modifying them as necessary.

· agrees a Business Partnership Agreement with the Inland Revenue to clarify roles related to delivery of benefit to tax credit customers

· monitors and reviews all its service level agreements at least annually and takes action to improve effectiveness and security as indicated by the monitoring reports

· documents and agrees minutes of meetings with Citizens Advice.

· monitors its performance to ensure customers are seen within 15 minutes of arrival at Exchequer House

· introduces procedures to demonstrate appointments are allocated within 14 days of the request

· clearly publicises the accessibility of private interview rooms

· produces and holds stocks of public information leaflets and other information about HB and CTB and ensures these are widely available

· ensures a documented management check by a senior officer to check the availability of leaflets and claim forms

· carries out customer surveys in line with Performance Standards and ensures:

· introduces a report that identifies response times to general correspondence and monitors performance against Performance Standards.

· ensures that customer service staff have work objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed

· introduces a formalised training programme for new and existing Customer Service Advisers

· ensures training is evaluated.

· at least annually, assesses the effectiveness of the services provided for customers with special needs

· takes appropriate action as a result of these assessments

· maintains and displays at Exchequer House and the Civic Centre, a supply of HB and CTB information leaflets and claim forms in suitable formats, for visually and hearing impaired customers

· publicises that interpretation services are available to callers with language needs.

· ensures:

· carries out an annual review to measure the effectiveness of the services for working customers

· develops an action plan from the review to enhance the service.

· develops a strategy for benefit take-up that:

· aligns the targets for dealing with HB and CTB complaints with the corporate targets set out in the Getting it Right annual report

· ensures that the corporate targets meet Performance Standards

· documents HB and CTB complaints procedures, clearly setting out the targets for dealing with complaints

· ensures:

· accurately measures the time taken to deal with complaints, recording all stages of the process to:

· documents the appeals procedure and makes it available to staff

· ensures staff are aware of procedures and targets for dealing with reconsiderations and appeals

· records and monitors the time taken to deal with each stage of the request for reconsideration and appeals processes.

· introduces and monitors procedures to ensure it meets the 14-day and 36-day processing of claims Standards

· introduces an exception report for claims not reaching the 14-day processing of claims Standard

· uses the 36-day and recommended 14-day exception report to investigate the length and reasons for any delays.

· ensures that:

· improves its control of payments on account by producing a monthly age-analysis report which identifies cases that have been in payment for more than 4 weeks.

· introduces and monitors procedures to ensure it meets the 9-day change of circumstances Standard

· revises the wording about reporting changes of circumstances on all customer and landlord correspondence to ensure that it:

· ensures it accepts only original documents as evidence in support of:

· ensures that all staff are re-trained on the requirement to accept only original documents in support of a claim

· implements the Verification Framework as intended, commencing February 2004 with full compliance from May 2004

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· verifies identity for all customers and partners, where applicable

· fully completes a Section 19 form for every claim, including those claims where a previously completed Section 19 form is held on file.

· uses visits as an additional method of confirming residency, where appropriate

· revises its Verification Framework Implementation plan to include its impact on the verification of residency.

· ensures that capital is fully verified in all appropriate cases.

· improves its quality checking sheet to include the crosschecks specified in its Standards of Evidence document and includes a check that:

· ensures that:

· provides written guidance to staff undertaking quality checks

· ensures that management checks are performed on the work of the Service Provider’s Quality Assessors.

· ensures that it meets the timescales for:

· ensures that the current service level agreement between London Borough of Bromley and the Rent Service is finalised and signed

· monitors the requirements set out in the service level agreement.

· provides up-to-date help sheets and leaflets for landlords

· writes once a year to landlords, giving up-to-date information on landlords’ responsibilities and encouraging them to act to prevent overpayments

· establishes landlord forums with private landlords.

· ceases the practice of recovering overpayments routinely from the payee and exercises discretion regarding whom to recover from depending on the circumstances surrounding the overpayment.

· ensures that:

· restricts access to the post opening room

· ensures that:

· introduces:

· updates its personnel procedures to include recruitment checks

· requires all staff to complete a declaration of interest, including a nil return, which should be reviewed annually

· gains assurance that the staff employed by the Service Provider and agency staff are subjected to recruitment checks in line with the Audit Commission’s guidance.

· urgently implements a plan to clear the backlog then ensures all post is scanned onto the Document Management system on the day of receipt or, if this is not possible, the following day.

· ensures that access to the key to the secure cupboard is restricted and controlled

· reviews current written procedures and ensures all staff are aware of them

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· deploys sufficient resources to clear the backlog of returned cheques.

· introduces:

· data matches HB records against other council records.

· operates the ‘Do Not Redirect’ scheme in accordance with the Department’s procedural guidance

· records all items returned under the scheme

· establishes a named contact point with the Royal Mail to ensure good liaison

· ensures that ‘Do Not Redirect’ post is sent to the Anti-Fraud team on the day it is returned to London Borough of Bromley.

· maintains central records to show when and why authorised individuals’ powers have been used.

· commences action on referrals within 5 working days of being sifted.

· achieves 100% of the Security Against Fraud and Error scheme threshold.

· provides Fraud Investigators with work objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed.

· informs the Debt Recovery team of all administrative penalties so recovery can be made.

· includes the use of blameless tenant legislation in its Overpayments Strategy and ensures staff implement its use

· makes overpayment procedures available to all staff

· provides training for staff who are involved in all aspects of overpayment work.

· processes changes of circumstances, which result in a reduction of benefit or benefit ceasing, before the first payday following the date it receives sufficient information for it to act on the error or change of circumstances.

· calculates overpayments, on average, within 7 calendar days of the first payday after receipt of written notification of a change of circumstances.

· sets a target to achieve top quartile performance against the overpayment recovery Best Value Performance Indicator

· makes use of all recovery methods

· actively pursues recovery, including old debts

· prioritises fraud overpayments.

· ensures that all overpayments are classified correctly.

· considers writing off debts only when all methods of recovery have been exhausted, or where it would be uneconomic in line with the local authority’s write-off policy

· sets targets for reducing the numbers and amounts of inactive debt and monitors its performance against these.