benefit integrity centre - who are they?

I have just assited a client to complete an Income Support ‘Review Claim Form’ - A2 form.  A letter accompanied the form requesting completion with the letterhead ‘Peterborough Benefit Integrity Centre’.  Now I seem to remember this subject being discussed before on this forum (couldn’t find it), but who actually are they and, more importantly for my client, how do they choose who to review?  Is it random?

I think its to do with the fraud and error strategy. The caseload is being ‘cleansed’ and fraud and error is being ‘purged’. The following is from para 2.9 of this National Audit Office document dated Jan 2011 http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1011/hc07/0704/0704.pdf

“Jobcentre Plus has begun risk scoring to identify customers claiming Income Support
and Jobseeker’s Allowance who are more likely to make a mistake. This is a new
project, within which Jobcentre Plus plan to contact 1.16 million ‘high risk’ customers
each year from 2010-11 until 2014-15 to review their circumstances, identify changes
and remind customers of their responsibilities. To do this, more than 500 staff will be
involved in checking the details of existing customers and an office, referred to as a
‘Benefit Integrity Centre’, will be dedicated to this activity.”

Jane

“Jobcentre Plus has begun risk scoring to identify customers claiming Income Support
and Jobseeker’s Allowance who are more likely to make a mistake.”

It would be interesting to know how claimants are risk-scored.  I cannot see how my client would be high-risk as both her and her partner have been on the same benefits for years.  They are both deaf and care for each other.

See my post in “Disability ‘cleansing’ in Birmingham” in “other benefit and tax credit issues”.

The Peterborough Benefit Inegrity Centre was a DWP proccesing office until 4 July - but is now only dealing with reviewing old benefit cases for “error” .

Vsiited my brother and sister in law at the weekend - was just like being at work. He is very disabled, gets IB, DLA higher rate both, IS top up of 10p a week but important for mortgage interest and passporting. She is his carer despited being terminally ill herself. They both get very small occupational pensions. In the last two weeks he got a letter and an A2 form from Ilford Benefits Integrity Centre. She had to contact them to say had just sent occ pension statements to York BDC. Told to get them back and send them to Ilford asap. She managed to do that, got letter saying IS had not changed. Same day got a letter from something called DWP Performance Measurement from an office in Houghton le Spring saying we are coming to visit you next week to check you are still entitled to Income Support..  Only a mobile number, she left various voicmail messages, and then, being persistent, got an office number, phoned the Houghton office who denied all knowledge of Performance Measurement. Eventually got a call back from the mobile - person only works part time so had only just picked up his voicemail.. She explained to him politely but I suspect forcefully that she saw no reason for his visit given the Ilford thing. He said “Oh well they’re private”. Some of this took her an entire morning and about 10 phone calls, all at her expense.

In their circumstances I think it’s pretty impressive she managed to get so far. Most of our clients would give up at the first hurdle, IS would stop, knock on effects on HB etc etc. I can see no reason at all why they would be flagged up as dodgy claimants. And getting two supposedly random checks from different offices who are clearly not in contact is hardly saving money for the DWP. And how is one of the offices private?? Has DWP been handing out contracts to private sector companies for this work?

DWP has article about Benefit Integrity Centres in November 2011 isse of Touchbase -

here’s link to rightsnet news story -

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/news/story/dwp-announces-new-benefit-integrity-centres/