Finance & IT Information Bulletin — Issue 23, April 2005
Best Value Performance Indicators
1. Council Tax and Business Rates Collection
| At 31/03/05 (%) | At 31/03/04 (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Council Tax | 97.0 | 96.8 |
| Business Rates | 97.6 | 97.7 |
2. Processing of Benefit Claims
Processing performance is shown in the table.
| Category | 2004/5 Provisional | 2004/5 Target |
|---|---|---|
| New claims (days to process) | 34.8 | 42 |
| % of New Claims processed within 14 days | 77.5% | N/A (not a BVPI) |
| Changes in Circumstances (days to process) | 15.2 | 14 |
3. Benefit Fraud
Fraud penalties issued as for 2004/05 are as follows:
| Sanction Applied |
No. of Cases |
Subsidy from DWP |
|---|---|---|
LA Caution |
30 |
£36,000 |
Administrative Penalty |
36 |
£43,200 |
Summons Issued (court hearing awaited) |
1 |
£1,200 |
Successful Prosecutions |
33 |
£105,600 |
Total |
100 |
£186,000 |
4. Benefit Intervention Visits
Current Performance:
| Home Visits |
5,038 |
|---|---|
| Postal checks |
2,529 |
| Data matches |
743 |
| Total |
8,710 |
5. Payment of Undisputed Invoices
The % of invoices processed within 30 days was 89.67% up to the end of March 2005. The cumulative total is 90.79% for the year 2004/05. The last quarter is provisional as the returns have not all been received so the figures may be revised at a later date. The Government’s target is 100%.
departmental Key Tasks And Service Development
6. Payment of Council Bills
Payments at Post Offices and PayPoint agents continue in line with expectations and completely without problem.
The number of Internet transactions has considerably increased in the last 12 months from 12,205 to 17,543 - represents over 21% of all credit/debit card transactions - with value increased from £1.343m to £1.767m.
Payments received via the Credit card line showed an increase in the number of transactions this last year by over 33% to 65,836 (22% up by value to £6.742m).
The 24/7 Automated Telephone Service (launched in December 2003) has proved hugely popular - and has taken over 37% of all credit/debit card transactions since April.
The figures show the position for the year 2004/05.
| No. 000’s | £’m | |
|---|---|---|
| Post Office | 590.5 | 30.594 |
| PayPoint | 89.4 | 4.093 |
| Telephone | 34.8 | 3.899 |
| Internet | 17.5 | 1.767 |
| Automated Telephone | 31.1 | 2.842 |
Customers have been able to pay any council bill by credit/debit card at both Leigh and Wigan cash offices following the upgrade to the cash receipting system. Since going live in May over 3,200 payments have been taken. The agreement with HSBC through Co-op Bank now allows us to accept payment by customers who present the Visa Electron card.
Following decriminalisation of Parking, fines can be paid by credit/debit card using any of the
above mentioned facilities as well as at the newly opened office in the Market or at Leigh or Wigan cash offices. Payment can also be made at any Post Office or Paypoint agent.
7. Benefit Take-Up Campaign
We have advised over 1,100 customers aged 50+, who have been identified from our benefit records as having potential entitlement to other benefits.
These people have now also been invited to attend pre-arranged surgeries in Wigan and Leigh during April, run in partnership between our own Benefits Section, Age Concern and Wigan Independent Advice Centre.
8. NNDR
In the January Bulletin, I advised of progress with the conversion of the NNDR system and of the changes to Business Rates coming in from 1 April 2005 including the new scheme of relief for Small Businesses.
The year-start billing process was completed in accordance with our timetable and bills posted on 17 March.
The take-up of the new Small Business Relief scheme has been excellent. 1,500 small businesses have been awarded relief of almost £975,000. A further 200 businesses qualify for the Buffer Zone - which means that although they don’t qualify for the scheme of relief, they are protected from paying for the cost of the scheme, representing a saving to them of about £17,000.
The replacement system is now almost fully implemented. Given the short-time scale and lack of opportunity to plan and prepare for this system conversion this is an exceptional achievement and thanks go to our Revenues and IT staff for their commitment to this important project. The support received from the Anite conversion team must also be acknowledged.
Elsewhere, this Information Bulletin has reported on collection achieved in this financial year.
System conversions are noted for the downward impact they have on the collection rate and as Business Rates is a Corporate Health BVPI this has been a concern throughout the project. The out-turn position at 31 March 2005 is 97.6% - only minimally down on last year’s published (to 1 decimal place) position of 97.7% (actual 97.66%). Although our target for 2004/05 of 98% has not been achieved, the target was set without any expectation of having to change system.
2005/06 provides the challenge to improve collection rates and get targets back on-track. The first batch of reminder notices will be issued soon and this offers a further opportunity to promote the take-up of the Small Business Relief scheme. Performance during the year will continue to be regularly measured and reported.