A COUNCIL whistle-blower has blamed a new flagship system which deals with benefit payments in south Worcestershire for the near-meltdown of local authorities’ phone lines.

An anonymous source says the new south Worcestershire revenues and benefits service, which deals with housing benefits and council tax relief and collection in Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills, is clogging up council phone lines and leading to a poor service.

We reported last week how hundreds of people have struggled to contact their local authority over recent months due to problems experienced by the Worcestershire Hub, with one in five calls to the council being abandoned in frustration.

Council bosses insist the problem is down to a surge in people needing benefits due to the recession, with calls up by 50 per cent on last year.

But our source has blamed a change in procedure which means benefit enquiries are now dealt with by the Hub's own telephone operators, rather than being passed through to benefits officers as before. The source said: “The Worcestershire Hub simply isn’t working since the new benefits service came in. It’s all because benefit staff have been directed not to take phone calls. So calls are being taken by advisers who don’t necessarily have the training.

“The Hub staff are dealing with call after call about revenues and benefits, and people ringing up about a missed bin collection or a highways issue can’t get through.”

Council leaders say Hub staff are trained to deal with the enquiries and insist the blocked phone lines are simply down to the sheer number of calls. Nick Jefferies, head of the revenues and benefits shared service said: “If a call is particularly complex then there is still a process by which it can be passed through to staff.”