Milton Keynes Residents Reap the Benefit

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 14th Oct 2005

Milton Keynes Council's benefits service is going from strength to strength.

Latest figures show that parts of the service, for example claims processing, are now in the top 'quartile' for performance - compared to being close to bottom just over a year ago.

A tough internal self-assessment graded the service as three stars during the summer - and the Council is now confidently looking forward to the outcome of an independent survey by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI). Council staff and their HBS colleagues started making improvements almost immediately after adopting new, more customer-focused ways of working.

Notable improvements include the number of days for assessing a new claim, which plummeted from an average of 60 days two years ago to just 24 days now, as well as a solid, steady improvement in council tax collection levels.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Crooks, the responsible cabinet member, said: "The benefits service has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years and this has been noticed nationally. We knew we had improved when we did our own internal assessment and we are quietly confident that we will receive a good report from the BFI. These improvements would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of our staff. Long may they continue."

But staff are not resting on their laurels, with other improvements in the pipeline, including an easier-to-understand claim form. And last month saw the start of a benefits take-up campaign, on which the Council will be working closely with the Citizens' Advice Bureau and the MK Welfare Rights Group, to encourage more people to claim the benefits to which they are entitled.