Our services
Finance and Resources delivers some key frontline services such as council tax and benefits as well as supporting service delivery through good financial management across the council.
The main services that the department delivers to customers are listed below.
The team protects the council's funds by investigating suspicions of fraudulent activity committed against the council and recommends sanctions, covering internal fraud, corruption, Housing Benefit and property related fraud.
The benefits section delivers a consistently improving service to the 40,000 residents who receive or are entitled to housing and council tax benefits support.
There are currently 8,470 commercial properties in the borough of Lambeth liable for business rates.
These rates, collected by local authorities, are the means by which businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services.
Council tax is your contribution to the many services the council provides such as schools, roads, libraries, meals in the home, and rubbish collection, as well as the police, fire service and many other local services.
We handle all insurance claims that are made either by or against the council, including co-ordinating between insurers, claims assessors, loss adjusters, solicitors and external claims handlers. We also administer leaseholder's buildings policies.
The procurement team are responsible for managing tenders and contracts for the supply of products and services across the council to make sure that Value for Money is achieved. In addition, the team supports Lambeth’s businesses through sustainable and accessible procurement practices.
Risk management offer advice and support to the council and its partners on identifying risks, evaluating their potential consequences and determining the most effective methods of controlling them and/or responding to them.
Full information on the functions of the divisions of the department can be found in the About the Finance and Resources Department section.
Our services – what customers have told us
Benefits Service
Improved total satisfaction (78% vs. 63% in 2003/04).
Major improvements in satisfaction (BVPI Survey 2006):
- “the ways in which I can contact the local authority benefits office“ (increased 5% to 46%)
- “the experience of visiting the local authority benefits office” (increased 10% to 41%)
- “with the telephone service provided by my local authority benefits office” (increased 24% to 35%)
- “with the housing/council tax benefits claim form“ (increased 5% to 36%)
Council Tax – Capita
Research in December 2007 showed strong improvements in satisfaction all Council Tax services provided by Capita:
- Personal visit (satisfaction increased from 60% to 67%)
- Council Visit (satisfaction increased from 61% to 82%)
- Written correspondence (satisfaction increased from 41% to 56%)
- Telephone contact (satisfaction increased from 70% to 76%)
Customer Services
Approximately 300 mystery shopping calls per quarter are made into the contact centre across all of the services. Scores from this monitoring are currently running at between 84% and 87%
Results over the past two years have seen rapid and steady improvements. Last year, in June 2007, a benchmarking report showed that we are in the 2nd highest quartile in terms of the quality of calls answered.
Customer satisfaction surveys are carried out every month for most services. The aim is to measure the customer satisfaction with the performance of the Lambeth Service Centre. Currently the satisfaction scores are between 85% and 90%.