Issue - meetings

Report of Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Purpose of report

To update the Committee with details of the Risk Based Verification (RBV) policy and to seek approval for the reviewed RBV policy for 2025/26

Recommendations

The Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee resolves:

1.1           To note the contents of the report.

1.2           To approve the RBV policy for the financial year 2025/26, as set out at Appendix A to this report.

Resolved

(1)         That the report be noted.

(2)         That the Risk Based Verification policy for the financial year 2025/26 be approved.

The Assistant Director Finance submitted a report to seek approval of the reviewed Risk Based Verification (RBV) Policy for 2025/26.

In introducing the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration outlined the  Risk Based Verification process. The aim was to reduce the burden on customers and enable low risk claims to be put into payment more quickly which allowed resources to be dedicated to higher risk claims.

In response to a question as to whether the risk assessment that was made in real time was undertaken by a person or by the software, the Head of Revenues and Benefits Services advised the Committee that after income and expenditure data had been received a risk score was assigned by the software. The claim would then be processed by an officer. Risk scores were reviewed regularly by the Revenues and Benefits management team. It was agreed that updated information on the risk scores would be circulated to the Committee once it was ready.

In response to a question regarding the source of the data that was used to determine the risk score, the Committee was advised that this came from historical data built up over a period of time but was not specific to an individual.

In response to a question regarding the level of sampling that was undertaken to check the low risk scores it was agreed that additional information would be circulated to the Committee afterwards.

Resolved

(1)            That the report be noted.

(2)            That the Risk Based Verification policy for the financial year 2025/26 be approved.