Report on Benefit Fraud Inspection Welcomed

Cllr Steve Jones, Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council, has welcomed the publication today of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate’s report on Sheffield City Council’s Benefit Service.

Sheffield City Council administers around £152 million in housing benefits, about 11.6% of its gross revenue expenditure.

The inspectors found that the Council provides an effective and secure gateway to prevent fraud and error entering the system. They found the verification of claims was being undertaken to a high standard and a number of good practices were applied. Effective and comprehensive quality checking supported this. Any errors, they reported, were fed back to staff and training needs were identified and provided for.

The inspectors also reported that a significant commitment had been made to undertaking benefit case checks on claims in payment. They found the Council had exceeded its annual target of 11,670 visits in the first six months of 2006/7 and swift action had been taken on cases where changes in circumstances had not been reported.

However the inspectors also found weaknesses in the Council’s counter fraud operations.

The Council will be preparing an action plan to address all the weaknesses the inspectors identified, and the implementation of this plan will be closely monitored.

Commenting on the report Cllr Steve Jones, Deputy Leader of the Council said: “We are conscious that we need to make improvements and we will be doing that, including talking to Liberata, our service delivery partner, about how they can up their game. However we are constantly working to combat benefit fraud. In the last year (2005 -6) the Council successfully applied 89 sanctions against fraudsters including 41 prosecutions. During 2006 - 07 up to 31st January, the Council has applied 61 sanctions. Sanctions the Council takes against benefit fraudsters include prosecutions, administrative penalties and cautions. In all cases the fraudulent claimant pays the money back. ”

He continued: “Just last week we successfully prosecuted a woman who had been fiddling her Housing Benefit claim. We don’t take this lightly, and benefit fraudsters should take heed - if you fiddle the system we will catch up with you.”

Returning to the report, Steve concluded: “We’re pleased that the inspectors recognised our commitment to ensuring public money is spent wisely and the areas where our service is performing well - the verification of claims, exceeding intervention targets, applying good practices and taking swift action when changes in circumstances have not been reported.”

The Council is keen to encourage members of the public to report cases of suspected fraud therefore it provides a free, confidential benefit fraud hotline, which members of the public can use to report suspected fraud. The number is: 0800 083 7060.

Anyone suspecting benefit fraud can either telephone this number, visit the Council’s fraud web pages www.sheffield.gov.uk/benefitfraud or write to Sheffield City Council, The Benefit Fraud Section, PO Box 1310, Sheffield S12 1UY. Any correspondence to the Council reporting benefit fraud will be dealt with in the strictest confidence and people contacting the Council do not have to give their personal details.