Councils to be examined for taking too long (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Councils to be examined for taking too long

FRAUD inspectors are to investigate local authorities that take longer than 80 days to process housing benefit claims which until recently would have included Swindon Council.

Two years ago, when WS Atkins had the franchise to manage Swindon's benefits operation, some claimants were kept waiting as long as six months for a decision.

Since the contract was given to Liberata in August 2002, the processing time has been drastically reduced and is soon expected to hit the Government target of 35 days.

The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate aims to make detailed recommendations during spot-check inspections in a bid to improve claims processing times for the poorer performing councils, of which Swindon is one, but no longer in this area of management.