SWINDON Council has failed to hit Government targets for paying housing benefit to the poor, new figures have revealed.

The Department for Work and Pensions which describes the benefit as a vital weapon in the war against poverty has called for claims to be processed in 36 days.

But in the three months to the end of 2003, Swindon dealt with claims in an average of 57 days.

In England and Wales the average time taken to settle new claims was 47 days. Swindon also missed guideline times for processing changes of circumstances among claimants.

Instead of tackling them within nine days, it took council bureaucrats 24 days.

Figures released by the DWP showed rent allowance given to benefit claimants living in non-council housing was not paid on time in 39 per cent of cases.

And, in 10 per cent of cases, the council failed to ensure housing benefits were paid accurately.

The Department for Work and Pensions began publishing the quarterly figures for the first time last year to challenge poor performance.

Benefits Minister Chris Pond said it was right for the public to see how well or how badly their council is doing.

He added: "Housing benefit is a vital weapon on our fight against poverty and our welfare to work programme.

"Good housing benefit performance can have a significant impact in tackling poverty and providing opportunity, whereas poor performance restricts opportunity and leaves people facing financial problems."

In all, 155 authorities met the 36-day standard in the last three months of 2003 compared to 132 in the same period in 2002.