Disability and Carers Service Business Plan 2007–2008
Foreword
We are an agency that continues to focus on delivering improved services to disabled people and carers in Great Britain.
Last year our customers told us they were more satisfied than ever with the service they receive from the agency. When independently surveyed, 86 per cent were satisfied, which represents a three per cent increase on the previous year. I am delighted that more customers are satisfied, although 86 per cent by no means represents the model of public service we want to be. It nevertheless is a considerable achievement by our dedicated people.
Since we became an agency in November 2004:
- accuracy of decisions for Disability Living Allowance has increased from 86.1 per cent to 92.1 per cent;
- clearance times for Attendance Allowance have reduced by 2.1 days; and for Carer’s Allowance by 6.1 days, respectively.
This has been achieved despite the need to reduce the overall size of our workforce and increasing workloads. I want to pay tribute to our people who have worked so hard in making a difference to so many of our customers.
We are setting standards in the public sector for focusing on customer service. Our Helpline has been recognised with a Civil Service-wide award for outstanding performance and it now compares with some of the best, across both public and private sectors, in terms of quality of service. But we know from what customers have told us that we could do more. In this business plan I set out our aspirations for 2007/08.
This year we will consolidate the improvements we have made in our first two years. We will go further for both customers and representatives by improving the information we provide and in the way we interact with them. Customers and citizens expect the correct amount of money to be paid at the right time and so we will ensure customers know why they are paid, when they will be paid and the changes they are responsible for telling us about. Throughout 2007/08 we will also be working with our partners to identify and address customer service issues affecting those people who are customers of two or more agencies.
This year we will also go further for our people by continuing to invest in their professional development and by increasing their skills and knowledge. There will be a major investment also in the skills and development of our team leaders and managers. Overall, we are planning to deliver over 35,000 days of training and development. This is a major commitment in the support of our people.
There is much more to be done but we are now well positioned for the future and I believe we can continue to improve the lives of disabled people and carers and continue to meet the increased expectations of customers, partners, stakeholders and our people.
Terry Moran
Chief Executive
Did you know?
There are over ten million disabled people in Britain including 700,000 children [1]
- Department for Work and Pensions estimate which covers the number of people with a longstanding illness, disability or infirmity and who have a significant difficulty with day-to-day activities who are covered by the Disability Discrimination Acts but who would not necessarily be entitled to Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance. Based on data taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS 2004-2005)