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Research into the management of housing benefit payments and council tax collection has shown that performance indicators are not a reliable way to assess effectiveness and efficiency. The research, carried out by Loughborough University, revealed that multiple objectives often conflict. Minimising resource costs may conflict with tackling benefit fraud. Some authorities place greater emphasis on take-up and have more extensive accuracy and verification checks than others. This higher level of accuracy puts up the resource costs, but these are far outweighed by the savings made from more accurate payments. The researchers concluded that it does not always follow that high cost councils are inefficient, or that low cost councils are examples of good practice.
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