It is important that LAs adopt a corporate approach to the security of benefits, which can be achieved by the adoption of a corporate framework containing:
The Audit Commission update of Fraud and Lodging– Progress in Tackling Fraud and Error in Housing Benefit (April 1999) advocates that:
Members and senior officers should ensure that there is a corporate framework that emphasises the value of fraud prevention but does not shrink from investigation and prosecution where appropriate.
A successful corporate framework should have:
SABC details the objectives for benefits service in the Borough Treasurer’s Department annual business plan. Members receive occasional reports on the progress of the benefits service against the objectives as well as, on occasion, other HB and CTB issues.
We consider that SABC’s members and senior officers could be more actively involved in monitoring the operations of the benefits service. They could do this by jointly developing a corporate framework that sets out:
We found that members and senior officers were not closely involved in the development of strategies and policies for the benefits service. For example, no human resources strategy had been developed addressing:
We found a lack of reporting mechanisms to regularly inform the members of the benefits service’s performance. Members were not kept informed about results of successful investigations, nor of trends in types of investigation. Commitment from the members would help to encourage development of an anti-fraud culture within SABC.
We found that SABC does not publicise its service standards in an annual service delivery plan. Such a plan would:
SABC needs to develop a framework that clearly communicates to staff and claimants the standards and targets for the benefits service. A mission statement could be used to increase awareness, for example:
It is the aim of SABC to pay the right money, to the right person, on time and to tackle fraud and abuse.
The mission statement could then demonstrate what this means in practice with a series of targets, for example:
Policies or plans should underpin the achievement of short, medium and long-term objectives. They should be effectively communicated so that everyone understands what needs to be achieved, by whom and by when.
A mission statement encapsulates the overall objectives for an LA. Strategies, on the other hand, give individual objectives and the means by which the strategy will be achieved. Strategies could be developed on:
Strategies must be supported by a corporate framework document setting out:
The corporate framework would require the production of a detailed annual business plan for the benefits service, detailing for members and senior managers how:
The implementation of strategies and planning needs to be supported by effective planning and sound management of the day-to-day operations. We found that SABC did not have systems in place to monitor and review the performance of the benefits service over the year to ensure future planning.
We were impressed by the level of commitment shown by the staff working in the benefits service. It was a great credit to management that they have been able to sustain their enthusiasm to deliver a very good service.
We believe that this commitment could be further sustained by implementing a training and development plan within an integrated human resources strategy.
To promote a corporate framework we recommend that SABC: