April 2010
Benefit Fraud Investigation In January 2010 the Benefit Fraud Investigation teams from Winchester City Council and Test Valley Borough Council were merged and restructured resulting in two Investigators and one Investigation Team Leader (all employed by Winchester City Council) now running the service for both Authorities. Benefit fraud is a crime and is taken seriously by both Authorities. So far this year Winchester City Council has issued 2 Administrative penalties (a fine equal to 30% of the amount overpaid), 14 Cautions (similar to a police caution and recorded on a central government database) and prosecuted 5 people who now have a criminal record. If you suspect someone of committing benefit fraud you can speak toan officer during normal working hours by ringing 01962 848 173. If you would like to leave an anonymous message at ANY time you can ring 01962 848 306. You can also visit our website at www.winchester.gov.uk and complete an online form. Customer Service Excellence           The Benefits Service has become one of the latest council services to receive the Government’s Customer Service Excellence (CSE) standard. CSE is the Government standard to which all local authority departments aspire. It assesses areas such as service delivery, timeliness of response, provision of information, overall professionalism and staff attitude. CSE ensures that local authorities place the needs of their customers at the heart of everything they do, and provide a friendly and helpful service. Jane Petty, Deputy Head of Revenues at the City Council, said: “We are delighted that we have achieved the Government’s customer service standard. We have been working hard to ensure that we provide the best service possible to our customers, and we will continue to develop our services to help customers access the help and information they need.” The Benefits Service encourages anyone who is on a low income or struggling to meet living costs to contact them for free advice on benefits that they might be entitled to. You can contact the team on 01962 848 539 or benefits@winchester.gov.uk You can also find useful advice on the benefit pages of the City Council website. Equality Impact Assessment          The Benefits Service successfully completed an equality impact assessment for the Service in 2009.  All aspects of the benefits service were examined including how to claim, how to notify changes and how to appeal. The assessment team did not find any evidence to suggest that any customers are negatively impacted. The Benefits Service is considered to have a positive impact for all relevant customer groups. The service already operates in a way that ensures that groups who might be excluded or disadvantaged are targeted to encourage take up of benefits. It also provides a variety of ways to access the service and appropriate assistance to individuals who require additional help or support.  If there is anything that you think the Benefits Service can do to improve access to services for all please contact the Benefits Team Leaders on 01962 848597 or email them at  BTeamLeaders@winchester.gov.uk A copy of the equality impact assessment can be found on the City Council website. Stakeholder Survey In August 2009 a stakeholder satisfaction survey was sent to a number of our stakeholders to enable us to measure current satisfaction levels for the Benefits Service. We had an excellent response with 82% of our stakeholders returning the questionnaire. 96% of our stakeholders felt that the service they received was Good or Very Good. None of them felt that the service was Poor or Bad and only 4% felt that it was just OK. A number of them made comments on how the service can be improved or on areas where they are experiencing difficulties. All of these comments were put into an action plan and are currently being discussed in more detail with the stakeholders. If there is anything that you think the Benefits Service can implement to improve the service they provide to you please contact the Benefits Team Leaders on 01962 848597 or email BTeamLeaders@winchester.gov.uk
Contact us: Benefits Team, Winchester City Council, City Offices, Colebrook Street, Winchester, Hampshire. SO23 9LJ Tel: 01962 848539 Email: benefits@winchester.gov.uk Unsubscribe