At first glance a grant may be viewed simply as money being given to those who deserve and need it. Yet grants are always so much more than this.

Capita has upgraded its market leading One Revenues and Benefits software so that it now fully supports local authority residential and domiciliary care contribution assessments (known as Financial Assessments).

Capita plc (‘Capita’) today announces it has secured an extension to its contract to deliver Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessments for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Capita has been selected to partner with Harrow Council to deliver flexible revenues and benefits processing services at times of peak demand, in a five-year contract with the potential to extend for one year, worth £4.1 million over the full life of the contract.

Capita has been re-selected by Westminster City Council to manage the authority’s revenues and benefits services for a further seven years, commencing November 2018, with the option to extend for three years, in a deal worth approximately £65 million over ten years.

Capita has added an automation function to its benefits software, helping councils reduce claim processing times to less than two minutes - 20 times quicker than processing the same form manually.

In my previous article I looked at the many types of fraud that government grant makers need to identify and take steps to prevent.

Grants are an important tool for central and local government to support citizens and businesses, and improve lives, the economy and society.

In this session, we brought together a panel of experts from across UK local authorities and Capita’s revenues and benefits services to discuss the current situation what local authorities are facing concerning revenue collections and what may need to change immediately and in the next few years to ensure collection levels and revenue income stays at constant or improved levels.

A new report, Supporting local communities and people: are local government grants effective?’, published today by CIPFA in partnership with Capita plc.