THE revenue and benefits service provided by South Ribble Borough Council is fair and has promising prospects for improvement, according to an Audit Commission report.

Inspectors gave the service, which covers Leyland and Samlesbury, a one star rating and highlighted customer-focus and a high level of customer satisfaction, but said services were not well marketed and information for customers was not always clear and user-friendly.

Jo Webb, inspector for the Northern region of the Audit Commission, said: "The service is committed to delivering change and already has a track record of improvement. Many plans for further improvements are emerging and these should make a considerable difference to the level of service customers receive.

"The service must now update its improvement plan to reflect this work and ensure the plan is challenging, customer-focused and includes measurable targets which will deliver significant improvement."

The report highlighted a number of key strengths including improvements in the performance of the benefits service, a high level of accuracy in processing benefit claims combined with average speed of processing and a commitment to preventing fraud.

However, inspectors also found weaknesses including the fact some service aims were not clear, while performance management systems were weak and collection rates were relatively low as the system for raising bills and then monitoring and recovering debt was not robust. Copies of the report are available from South Ribble Borough Council or on the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk.