This report seeks endorsement of the continued use of the Council’s Risk Based Verification (RBV) process for the financial year 2025/26 and affirms the use of the policy during the past financial year 2024/25.

The Committee received a report stating that the Council intended to continue to use its Risk Based Verification (RBV) process in 2025/26 following the annual review of the Policy and that it was considered good practice for the Policy to be examined by the Audit and Governance Committee.  The process had been introduced by the Council in June 2010 following a recommendation by the Department of Works and Pension.  The process enabled processing of claims for Housing Benefit payments and Council Tax Support awards to be streamlined, thereby enabling customers to receive payments sooner. The approach also helped to mitigate risk and fraud entering the system.  The Council’s risk-based verification policy principles had remained unchanged from the previous year. The Risk-Based Verification Policy 2025/26 was appended to the report along with the previous year’s Policy, but neither had been published because they contained exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Members of the Committee asked questions about whether there were proportionally more instances of fraud in the high risk category than in the low risk and what the savings made by the automated process were, in comparison to the cost of the software, and the Revenues and Benefits Manager said that she would need to look at the data to find the answers.  The Chair also stated that he had a number of detailed questions about how the algorithm worked, which he would send in an email.

Resolved:

(1)           That the continued use of a Risk Based Verification approach to evidence supporting claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax support in 2025/26 be noted;

(2)           That the Risk-Based Verification Policy 2025/26, as attached at Appendix 1, be noted;

(3)           That the Risk-Based Verification Policy 2024/25, as appended at Appendix 2, and that the policy had been effective for the period since initial implementation, be noted;

(4)           That the Revenues and Benefits Manager research the answers to the questions asked at the meeting and to be sent by the Chair, and the answers be circulated to members of the Committee.