BENEFIT claims in North Wiltshire are not being processed as quickly as the rest of the country, it has emerged.
North Wiltshire District Council is one of several local authorities to be investigated by the Government's Benefit Fraud Inspectorate for its performance administering benefit claims.
The council takes longer than the national average to process claims, according to the BFI, although it says work by the Benefit Claims Team has reduced waiting time to around five weeks.
There are further improvements planned and a new benefits and revenues software system will be launched at the beginning of March.
Council leader Ruth Coleman said: "We have been working hard to ensure that benefit claims are processed much more quickly than has been the case and the forthcoming inspection will provide an opportunity for us to demonstrate that considerable improvements have already been made.
"It is a credit to the Benefit Claims Team that enormous progress has been made and North Wiltshire District Council is now on target to deliver a much more effective housing and council tax benefit service."
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