MP DEREK WYATT is calling for the resignation of the leader of Swale Borough Council after housing benefit statistics revealed it to have one of the worst performance ratings in the country.

But Cllr Andrew Bowles (Con) said the figures did not reflect the current situation at Swale House.

The quarterly figures for 2003/04, which have been released by the Department of Work and Pensions, show Swale as performing badly in two areas: The average days to process a new claim and the average days to process a change of circumstances.

But it also came close to having the worst performance rating in the percentage of renewal claims being processed on time.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Mr Wyatt said Cllr Bowles should resign as he hadn't kept a promise he made during a radio interview earlier this year.

Mr Wyatt said: "He said it would be fixed and the council said we would be in the upper half of the quarterly figures when they were published. This is a very serious issue and I'm fed up with it. It has gone on and on with no one taking responsibility. I think he should resign."

Cllr Bowles called Mr Wyatt's comments "uncalled for and unhelpful" and said they showed a lack of understanding of the current situation.

He said: "The benefit backlog situation at Swale reached its peak around August and September last year. Since then we have seen a considerable improvement in the number of claims outstanding and this is not reflected in the performance indicators as we are always dealing with the oldest claim first.

"At our worst point there were more than 7,500 claims outstanding. Today there are fewer than 1,000, and at any one time we would expect there to be around 750 claims in the system.

"Within the next three weeks we are confident we will be performing at the best level Swale Borough Council has ever seen.

"By the autumn we expect that our performance will place us in the top 25 per cent of local authorities in the country. But it will be many months before the improvement in performance will be reflected in the DWP's published figures. I have no doubt that we are managing the situation and no resignations are required or contemplated."