Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey Council loses £1.4m on benefit mistakes
Mistakes and delays in housing benefit payments cost Haringey Council more than £1.4 million in a single year.
The council made £1.45 million in housing benefit overpayments during 2017-18 but was unable to claim the money back from the Government because there were too many mistakes in the forms it had submitted.
Another £577,000 of overpayments have been made in the current financial year – but the council is hoping to recover all of the money.
External auditor BDO says the council should be able to get the £577,000 back “subject to continued good performance for the remainder of the year”.
The problems arose due to a staff shortage in the council’s benefits team.
This meant that change of circumstances forms – used by claimants to tell the council of changes that could affect the amount of benefits they receive – were not being dealt with quickly enough.
Originally reported in The Enfield Independent
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Barney Winnett on
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One of the biggest mistakes regarding Housing Benefits was made by the Government when they decided to give Universal Credit claimants the Housing Benefit directly to pay to their landlords, be they social or private. This was bound to leave to non-payments, short payments or late payments as many people struggling financially would spend some rent money on other needs - winter fuel bills etc. This in turn has lead to evictions, further strain on the Council's homeless department and more people living rough. Perhaps, given the Tories' loathing of Labour councils, this was a deliberate ploy to screw up councils' economies and cause them to outsource (privatise) some public services in order to balance the books?
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