Audit Commission

Summary [Download full report below this summary]

The benefits service provided by Westminster City Council is a ‘fair’ service that has ‘promising’ prospects for improvement.

Customers receive an accessible and accurate service and changes are dealt with adequately. However, the service processes benefits slowly for those who are making a new claim and the strategy to increase take-up of benefits has not been evaluated to see whether it is working effectively. The City Council has a strong record in delivering improvements in service delivery.  The benefits service works within a corporate culture that continually seeks improvement. It has made some significant changes that directly improve customers' experience such as introducing a fast track system and it has worked with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to introduce a debt management service that people can access to help them through the recession.

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Download the full inspection report below. This report contains all our findings and recommendations.

City of Westminster Council - Benefits service inspection ( PDF, 349kb )

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