Issue - meetings

Report of Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Purpose of report

To provide members of this Committee with an update on the final position of the Housing Benefit subsidy claim audit for the financial year 2021/22.

Recommendations

The Accounts, Audit and Risk committee resolves:

1.1         To note the contents of this report

Resolved

(1)            That the update on the final position of the Housing Benefit subsidy claim audit for the financial year 2021/22 be noted.

The Assistant Director of Finance submitted a report that provided the Committee with an update on the final position of the Housing Benefit subsidy claim audit for the financial year 2021/22.

In introducing the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration explained that local authorities reclaim Housing Benefits that have been paid to claimants by submitting annual subsidy claims to the DWP. Each local authority’s appointed external auditor is required to certify that the annual claim is fairly stated and to report any errors to the DWP in a covering letter that accompanies the claim. Where there are errors, the claim is qualified and the DWP will seek to reduce subsidy payments to the Council.

The Committee was advised that as a result of the audit by the council’s external auditor, the pre-audit overpayments figure of £205,534 had been increased by an additional £92,653. This sum would be deducted from the ongoing monthly subsidy payments from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

In response to a question regarding the measures taken to reduce future errors, the Committee was advised that additional staff had been recruited and that more regular monitoring was now in place. It was anticipated that this would help to mitigate any future issues.

The Committee was informed that due to the ongoing backlog in auditing within the Local Authority sector, it was uncertain when the audits of Housing Benefit Subsidy for subsequent years would take place.

Resolved

(1)            That the update on the final position of the Housing Benefit subsidy claim audit for the financial year 2021/22 be noted.