Edinburgh Sucks! | Report on CEC: Overall there was a lack of management….

City Council

Report on CEC: Overall there was a lack of management….

By The Basa ⋅ February 26, 2007 ⋅

We are all used to Donald ‘Teflon Don’ Anderson and Ewan ‘Rasputin’ Aitken telling us just how well they are doing with our taxpayer pounds. Isn’t it interesting when JR emails us and points us in the direction of pure proof that they are not doing to well at all - in fact they are bloody useless and that has been going on since at least the year 2000.

It seems that The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, has published an inspection report by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate on the City of Edinburgh Council and things are not looking good at all with our cash.

In 2005/2006, City of Edinburgh Council administered some £156 million in housing benefits, about 14% of its gross revenue expenditure. One would think that administering this kind of cash annually they would try to get it right, however, in a previous inspection in 2000 the Department of Work and Pensions identified extensive weaknesses in the City of Edinburgh Council’s benefits administration and counter-fraud operations. In the current year, the council was unlikely to meet its target for benefit case checks in 2006/07 and changes of circumstances identified through these checks were treated incorrectly, resulting in overpayments of benefit not being raised.

It gets worse:

Overall there was a lack of management checking and no formal documented monitoring or analysis of the progress, outcome or quality of fraud investigations. Consequently, senior managers and Members had little or no assurance on the integrity, security and quality of benefits and counter-fraud operations.

Not a good report card at all for the Council coming up for an election. It seems that the management at the City of Edinburgh Council need to be replaced with the councillors.

When Teflon Don and Rasputin come knocking at your doors to ask for a vote, (if they have the guts) remember to ask them about the lack of management checking and formal documented monitoring or analysis of our money with which they were charged. I am sure the reply will be “It wisnae me, honest”.

Hat-tip to JR.

To read the whole nasty sorrid story click here.