Council defends its benefits service
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ABERDEENSHIRE Council has defended improvements to its benefits service, following comments by the Accounts Commission.
Audits of the service were undertaken by Audit Scotland in 2008 and followed-up in 2010/11 relating to the council’s housing and council tax benefit operations, and during 2009/10, the benefits section saw an increase in new claims of 9%, and changes to claims by 14%, adding pressure to workloads and increasing the time taken to deal with claims.
A council spokesman said: "Following concentrated efforts undertaken by the section since 2009, performance has improved significantly. New claims are processed on average in 24 days, compared to 46 days in April 2010. Changes in circumstances are now processed on average in nine days compared to 12 days in April 2010. This improved performance is as a result of a review of processes and investment in staff training and the improvement will continue.
"Aberdeenshire Council takes the views of Audit Scotland very seriously but feels that the positive progress made across the benefits service has not been fully reflected in the report.
"During this period the council has also been recognised at a national level through its work in integrating free school meals and clothing grants with benefit assessments, and this has increased take-up of these added benefits."
