BENEFITS staff at Ribble Valley Council have been given a pat on the back by the Government.

The latest Department for Work and Pensions report into the performance of housing and council tax departments at local authorities across the country has given Ribble Valley benefits team the thumbs-up.

The report measures the performance of local authorities on a series of targets, such as the speed in which new claims are processed and accuracy in benefit calculation.

The report reveals that Ribble Valley takes an average of 22 days to process new benefits claims, beating the national "performance standard" of 36 days by two weeks.

And the council has a 100 per cent accuracy rate in the processing of claims.

The council also completes 97 per cent of new claims within 14 days, as distinct from the national standard of 90 per cent.

Leader John Hill said: "Many of the staff in our benefits department have been at the authority for a long time, so they know their job well and are able to offer good levels of customer service."

Benefits manager Dawn Slater put the performance down to her "fantastic team" and the council's training policy.