Section 1:
Introduction

1.1 This report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) details the findings from an inspection of Lichfield District Council's (LDC) administration of Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB). The on-site inspection took place in March 1999 and followed the methodology at Appendix A.

1.2 We are pleased to place on record that staff at LDC were extremely helpful throughout the inspection and showed a very commendable commitment to raising standards of benefit administration and improving counter fraud performance.

Lichfield background

1.3 Lichfield is in the county of Staffordshire and is one of 9 Local Authorities (LAs) in the county. It covers a geographical area of about 128 square miles of differing urban and rural environments and has an approximate population of 93,000. The Parliamentary Constituencies, which the LA covers, are Lichfield and Tamworth. The Benefits Agency (BA) offices that interface with LDC are in Lichfield and Cannock and the Employment Service (ES) offices are in Lichfield and Tamworth.

1.4 Based on Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' (DETR) figures, Lichfield has the lowest level of deprivation of all LAs in Staffordshire. It has a ranking of 283 out of all 354 English and Welsh LAs, where one is the most deprived. However, there are pockets of relative deprivation and 3 wards have been identified as areas of demonstrable need, with a further 4 wards identified as experiencing certain levels of deprivation.

1.5 In March 1997, LDC undertook a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) of approximately 4,800 LA owned properties into the private sector. Lichfield District Housing Association (LDHA) became the owner of these properties. As a consequence of this transfer, all HB cases dealt with by LDC are now rent allowance cases.

1.6 At the time of the inspection, LDC was undertaking some major changes to improve the services it provides to its customers, including:

• building a completely new reception area with a cashiers point and waiting room
• the recent recruitment of a new benefit manager and fraud investigator
• office reorganisations and refurbishment, including the installation of a new Information Technology (IT) network.

1.7 A number of these changes to personnel and the physical environment were in progress during the on-site period of our inspection and we acknowledge that it is reasonable to expect that they would have had some detrimental impact on the performance of LDC at that time.

1.8 LDC employs 13.75 full-time equivalent staff to administer benefits. The average cost of administering benefit per claimant in 1996/97 was £66.56, lower than the reported national average of £78.70 per claim.

1.9 In 1997/98, LDC paid out nearly £10 million in HB and CTB, constituting 44% of its total gross revenue expenditure.

1.10 Further details regarding the background of LDC and its HB/CTB administration are at Appendix B.