THE tide has at last turned in the painful saga of Swindon's shameful benefits service.

The average time for processing new benefits claims has fallen from 89 days to 61.

Although this is still 25 days above the Government's expectation, it represents a giant step in the right direction.

Two years ago, when the service was run by beleaguered W S Atkins, some claimants were kept waiting up to five months for their claims to be processed.

Since the operation was given to Buckinghamshire-based private company, Liberata, last year the improvement has been continuous.

And Cliff Garland, the council's head of performance, said that the latest statistics were already out of date and the processing time for new benefits claims had been cut to 55 days.

"If it continues at this rate we'll soon be within reach of the Government's target," he said.

The percentage of renewal claims processed on time has also improved from a bleak 59 to 75.

The Government's Housing Benefits Minister, Chris Pond, said: "This is good news.

"However, there are still too many authorities taking too long to process claims. It is unacceptable that some claimants could have their tenancy put at risk due to delays in handling claims."

Swindon's Conservative council leader, Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns), said: "This is excellent news, but I won't be satisfied until we meet the Government's standard.

"And then we should still be aiming to reduce the time-lag even further."