After months of computer problems over Benefits claims, Ipswich Borough Council says it is now meeting the needs of local people and Government targets.
The Council introduced a new computer system to speed up the payments process but, along with other councils, experienced technical problems. This led to many delays and a backlog of applications built up. This also caused problems for landlords and letting agents. But the Council has been working flat out to resolve the problems and with the help of Hyder Business Systems (HBS) managed to deal with 11,500 claims in June (2006) alone - more than double the normal figure.
The Council announced in early July 2006 that every claim received before 1st April 2006 had been worked on although there were a few cases where staff were still awaiting further information before they could be completed.
Claims received after 1st April were being dealt much more quickly - the average processing time was down to around a month. Councillor John Carnall, the Council’s Deputy Leader, said: “I hope we have now turned the corner and have solved the huge backlog problems associated with transferring over to a new computer system which was ordered some years ago. We want to apologise to all those who have suffered problems caused by this delay but are pleased to announce that we are now meeting Government targets. I would like to thank our staff who have worked tirelessly to bring about a solution to this problem.”
Ipswich Borough Council helps around 12,000 residents with either Housing or Council Tax benefits.