Audit Commission

Summary [Download full report below this summary]

The benefits service at North Somerset Council is poor, but has promising prospects for improvement. The Council is responding positively to address shortcomings in the Service. The time taken to pay benefits to people is slow. The time taken to process new benefit claims and changes of people's circumstances in 2006/07 was in the worst performing 25 per cent of councils and is likely to remain so in 2007/08.

However, accuracy of decisions is above average. The Service is proactive at identifying changes of circumstances so that customers receive the right benefit. The fraud team work closely with other Council departments and partners to investigate fraudulent claims, but the number of successful sanctions in 2006/07 and 2007/08 is below average when compared with other Councils.

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North Somerset Council - Benefits service ( PDF, 284kb )

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