Is the service meeting the need of the community and or users?

This section includes good practice on:

• Accessibility
• Diversity
• Take-up
• Improving take-up for vulnerable customers
• Take-up campaigns
• Customer care
• Appeals
• Complaints
• Communications

The needs of the communities and customers we serve must be at the heart of benefit administration. There are many ways of assessing just how well we are meeting those needs.

Local authorities (LA) should be looking to continuously improve the service they provide their customers. Real and sustainable improvements in customer service can be achieved by changing the processes and systems operated by staff. Useful information on improving processes and systems can be found under the section Performance Management.

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Accessibility

Good practice includes:

• reviewing the service at least annually to ensure it best meets customer needs taking account of:
  • customers' and their representatives' views
  • the locality
  • availability of transport
  • obligations under the Race Relations Acts (RRA) 1976 and 2000 and Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995
• advertising the LA's commitment to customer service standards and time targets for dealing with public enquiries, and opening hours
• having cross-cutting teams of managers and more junior employees working together to identify ways of improving customer service, analysing customer complaints to improve effectiveness of the service and initial advice, and providing reports to service managers
• consulting customer representative groups, including Citizens Advice (CAB), disability, age and relevant ethnic minority groups
• informing these groups about services provided and engaging with them to assess the effectiveness of services provided
• using feedback from customer experience to identify opportunities for improved customer service
• reporting the results of customer surveys to senior and middle managers and operational employees. If there are problems with standards of customer service, highlighting these in reports to senior officers
• providing ease of access to the benefits service through:
  • appointments outside standard opening hours
  • extended opening hours
  • extended hours phone lines
  • home visits
  • Combining home visits with the Pension Disability and Carers Service (PDCS)
• locating offices and surgeries throughout the area so that customers can make personal visits for advice and verification
• sharing customer contact points with other organisations for example Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to give a range of services in one place
• ensuring that customers can book appointments by phone and having private interview facilities for those who request it.
• ensuring that customers can book appointments by phone, with an appointment time that is normally within seven calendar days of the phone call
• using a floorwalker in the Customer Service area to meet and greet, answer straightforward questions immediately and direct customers to the right queue
• providing waiting areas with customer access to drinking water, toilets and facilities for children.

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Diversity

Good practice includes:

• using the Equality and Human Rights Commission website to access advice about your responsibilities under the DDA and how you can meet them
• ensuring all front line staff are compliant with the DDA
• using suitable formats when communicating with visually impaired customers. These include large print (usually a font size of between 16 and 22 points), Braille, audiotapes, CD, disk, e-mail and websites as recommended by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). For more information visit the RNIB website
• monitoring and conducting an annual review on all the facilities provided for disabled people
• providing low counters for wheelchair users and fitting waiting rooms with disabled persons' access doors
• having sight and sound customer queuing systems
• for people with speech and hearing difficulties:
  • providing text-phone or type-phone facilities and services. See the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) website for more information on these types of services, which are supported by the UK telephone industry and available through most UK telephone networks
  • providing induction loop facilities in all offices where customers receive advice
  • making arrangements for British Sign Language interviews, when necessary
  • providing information and decision letters in different formats on request, including in large print and on audiotape
  • providing access to lip reader or palantypist services
  • recruiting and developing employees with specific language skills including sign language
• providing clear signage in all public areas, good lighting and using good contrast in colour to assist the visually impaired and other vulnerable people, as recommended by the RNIB
• offering downloadable material from the website in different font sizes and software from the homepage in spoken form
• offering reimbursement of taxi fares if appropriate
• providing assistance with claim form completion, when required, for those with learning difficulties or mental illness
• providing information leaflets and application forms in written languages of ethnic minority communities in the LA area when applicable, and in Welsh in Wales
• making arrangements for an interpreter when customers cannot readily provide one themselves
• making employees aware that not all disabilities are visible, and that not everyone can read or write
• making provision when requested for women-only interviews when appropriate, for example for those escaping domestic violence or for cultural reasons

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Take-up

Good practice includes:

• having a written strategy or plan covering issues of customer service, vulnerability, availability of help and advice and access, to encourage take-up of Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit (HB/CTB) that goes beyond the first step of raising awareness
• having a strategy for improvement and development to outline how it will use the following to shape the service and deliver what the customer wants including:
  • communication surveys
  • exit polls
  • comment cards
  • customer feedback forms
  • open days
  • exhibitions
• working in partnership with other stakeholders, such as PDCS, Jobcentre Plus, LA Welfare Rights services, CAB and voluntary advice groups, to ensure that eligible customers are enabled to make successful claims
• assisting local partners who are able to provide locations and volunteers to help customers by providing the necessary set-up equipment (such as PCs and printers) and help with on-going costs, such as broadband services
• carrying out targeted campaigns on under-claiming sections of the community, ensuring that assistance is given to eligible customers to make a claim and evaluating the results. The LA does this in conjunction with other stakeholders when this will add value
• communicating the LA's policy and strategy to potential customers and customer representative groups to encourage the legitimate take-up of benefit
• routinely offering customers who say they intend starting work, or are considering doing so, advice on eligibility for in-work benefits and tax credits. For example:
  • through offering leaflets or referrals to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)/Jobcentre Plus advice or local sources of independent welfare rights advice
  • making it clear that HB/CTB can continue as an in-work benefit
  • reminding customers that they have a responsibility to report any changes in their circumstances in relation to this advice
• displaying posters and providing leaflets at key public points in the LA, advertising the availability of HB/CTB to people on low incomes who are working, and telling customers about extended payments
• identifying and following up cases of potential hardship or failure to take up benefit, for instance to HB applicants who report incomes below the threshold level for other income-related benefits
• recording ethnicity of customers to compare against Council held data to identify where take-up campaigns should be focused
• analysing the reasons why people do not claim, identifying barriers and taking action to remove or reduce them
• identifying people who may not be claiming benefits to which they are entitled, distributing forms and leaflets and offering interviews
• making claim forms available at local advice agencies, such as CAB and other voluntary agencies, where arrangements are in place to issue claim forms
• placing entitlement checkers in local newspapers, in leaflets and any council newspaper
• placing leaflets in GP's surgeries, libraries and post offices
• promoting benefit take-up to residents by sending out benefit information with annual council tax bills
• ensuring Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and registered providers (RP) in England, have stocks of claim forms
• making regular checks to replenish stocks of leaflets at all outlets
• ensuring that all visiting officers are adequately trained to be able to identify customers who may not be claiming other Social Security benefits to which they are entitled such, as Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Carers' Allowance (CA), and can tell the customer where and how they can claim them or get independent advice
• when the customer has a period not covered by benefit, and it appears from the details available that the customer may be entitled to a backdated award, taking steps to inform the customer of that possibility
• including HB/CTB information in general LA publicity
• issuing newsletters to targeted audiences, which could be especially useful during implementation of a new system when service levels may be affected
• providing independent welfare rights advice or referral to welfare rights organisations, particularly if customers experience difficulties accessing benefits
• using and making available leaflets on other Social Security benefits, pensions and tax credits
• when appropriate, ensuring that literature is translated into written languages of local ethnic minority communities, and aiming advertising campaigns at the ethnic press
• working with the Carers' Allowance Unit (CAU) or the local Disability Benefit Centre (DBC) when targeting CA/AA/DLA customers
• ensuring other LA departments provide information on HB/CTB to any customers in arrears with Council Tax or council rents
• using market testing on literature, involving all customer types including disabled people through focus/user groups, questionnaires, etc.
• working with the RNIB or local blind associations and making use of talking newspapers and local radio
• working with the RNID or local associations for the deaf and hard of hearing and making use of posters and other visual publicity material, such as leaflets
• working with representatives of key disability groups and other local groups who represent different sections of the community
• working with other LA sections or upper-tier LAs and agencies to identify effective joint-working to increase take-up, for instance providing them with specially prepared material to send out to clients in particular groups, such as:
  • Social Services clients using Meals on Wheels or occupational therapists
  • carers
  • NHS clients using the services of a community psychiatric nurse
  • tenants in sheltered housing schemes
• working with local Jobcentre Plus offices to raise awareness of HB/CTB and its availability for in-work claims and providing assistance with making effective better-off calculations for HB/CTB either through Jobcentre Plus or direct to customers
• matching HB/CTB records with PDCS records to identify customers in receipt of Pension Credit but not claiming HB/CTB or Second Adult Rebate
• setting targets for the desired increase in the number of claims as a result of specific campaigns or targeted work, and working to identify and record the outcome of claims made as a result of each campaign or take-up project.

Some LAs have found it effective to:

• use local radio as it can result in a greater response than adverts placed in local newspapers
• promote a free-phone number and on-line application forms
• use a 'benefit bus' can offer a more accessible environment for the more vulnerable customers (such as pensioners and disabled people) and in areas with limited public transport
• set up surgeries in a variety of locations, such as supermarkets and libraries to encourage a broader range of demographical take-up
• use a benefits calculator at surgeries as it can enable assessors to offer a quick diagnosis on eligibility and HB/CTB entitlement and encourage a broad range of people to stop and make that initial enquiry
• use market research to identify the best marketing methods to reach potential customers. Some effective methods of marketing are:
  • local press
  • distributing posters and leaflets to a wide range of shops, clubs, churches, post offices, GP's surgeries, cafes, leisure and customer service centres
  • bus advertising
  • local radio
  • implementing referral arrangements from other agencies including the local PDCS and Age Concern
  • designing the campaign around a single image as it can help send a direct message to a customer base
  • using press releases in the local press and in the LA own free newspaper (if applicable)
  • writing directly to all key stakeholders
• understand the local population composition can help to improve benefit take-up.  Contacting newly established groups such as Eastern European communities
• put in place monitoring arrangements so you can assess which marketing activities are working/worked best.

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Improving take-up for vulnerable customers

Good practice includes:

• addressing the needs of vulnerable customers, for example those with mental health problems, by:
  • having procedures in place to recognise when a claim is from someone vulnerable or with a disability and ensuring that the claim is dealt with appropriately
  • having a documented procedure for liaison with Social Services when they act on the customer's behalf and benefit is being withdrawn from a vulnerable client
• monitoring inadequately completed claim forms to identify customers who may need additional support throughout the claiming process
• setting up a Housing Benefit Tenancy Support with funding from the LA service to take referrals from the Benefit Service, housing providers and self-referrals from householders for those customers
• visiting the customer's home to obtain the necessary evidence and supporting information so claims are not delayed
• guiding vulnerable customers through the benefits process and claim form
• fast tracking claims for customers living in temporary accommodation or at risk of moving into temporary accommodation
• building partnership and support arrangements between homelessness and benefits services may give landlords confidence to rent to potentially homeless people.

Take-up campaigns:

Planning your campaign

Good practice includes:

• planning your campaign to include:
  • the overall goal of the project
  • the outcomes it aims to achieve (such as large numbers of new claims or concentrating effort on those most in need)
  • deciding which available take-up model (from national campaigns or other LAs) that will best achieve the outcomes
  • the time scale for the project
  • the estimated cost for the project (such as staff time and materials)
• identifying target groups by considering:
  • customers affected by changes to the benefits system
  • groups underclaiming (including those in hard to reach communities)
  • identified areas of local needs
• using a number of resources to determine who is underclaiming, for example:
  • housing and council tax benefit data
  • views of users
  • views of experienced partner organisations
• involving partner organisations and consulting stakeholders in the early planning stages.  Potential stakeholders can include:
  • DWP, including PDCS and  Jobcentre Plus
  • HMRC
  • Arms Length Management Organisations
  • Registered Social Landlords
  • advice agencies
  • national charities
  • community organisations, for example those for carers and disability groups
  • faith groups
  • health staff including health visitors and other staff from Primary Care Trusts
  • schools
  • Parent Partnerships and other parent support groups
  • GP surgeries
  • energy suppliers
  • trades unions
  • large employers
  • job brokers
  • fire and police service
• considering when to involve stakeholders, such as, during the planning stages and when there is a clear idea of the target group
• establishing their support to establish a cohesive and joint-up approach
• consider establishing an umbrella group made up of statutory and non statutory organisations with clear roles and responsibilities

Deciding how to reach the target group

Good practice includes:

• considering what audiences to approach and when, such as:
  • customers, third parties or both
  • what materials to produce
  • how to disseminate the materials
• considering if a publicity strategy is necessary

Producing campaign materials

Good practice includes:

• developing written materials, such as:
  • flyers
  • leaflets
  • posters
  • training packs
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for LA staff that will be involved
  • website pages
• designing materials which cater for groups with specific needs, such as
  • different languages for non English speaking communities
  • large print or taped versions for those with sight or hearing impairments

Getting the message out

Good practice includes deciding which forum is appropriate, within any budget constraints, to get the message across, such as:

• newspapers, radio and TV
• newsletters (for LA and partner organisations)
• mailshots – general or targeted
• launch events
• stalls
• outreach advice centres
• talks to groups
• training sessions

Media and PR activity

Good practice includes:

• selling the story as interesting and newsworthy, for example by tying in a local campaign message with a national story, such as the national economic climate
• identifying the best spokesperson to prepare and answer media enquiries quickly
• finding case studies of successful customers from the target group to, for example, illustrate a key message in the information campaign
• targeting areas and venues
• ensuring any media and PR activity is consistent with corporate policy.

Assisting with claims

Good practice includes deciding how much support can be offered, such as:

• obtaining claim forms
• help with completing claim forms
• signposting enquiries to an advice service
• freepost address
• telephone helpline
• face-to-face advice – drop-in or by appointment
• home visits
• full casework and representation service

Ending the take-up work

Good practice includes:

• considering an exit strategy for time-limited take-up work
• managing the expectations of users if any service offered will be discontinued
• mainstreaming the work if the evaluation has proved the work related to the take-up campaign was successful

Measuring the success of the take-up work

Good practice includes:

• designing and setting up monitoring systems for the take-up
• building in monitoring and evaluation procedures into the development stages of new initiatives 
• using different ways to track claims made as a result of take-up activity, such as:
  • using different coloured claim forms
  • via the claim form, asking customers if it was promotional activity that prompted them to make a claim, and if so, what that activity was and what organisation was involved.
• ensuring clear and consistent methods are put in place for the collection of data of new claims

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Customer care

Enquiries

Good practice includes:

• setting targets, which, as a minimum, reflect corporate customer service targets for dealing with enquiries made by telephone, in person, by letter or e-mail and the LA monitors performance against the targets
• identifying the need for a bailiffs code of conduct to ensure that bailiffs refer cases to the council before taking action.  This can identify customers with additional support needs are identified
• providing an over-the-counter service for customers presenting completed claim forms and evidence so that customers can avoid posting valuable documents
• for customers starting work, providing advice on:
  • eligibility to HB/CTB
  • extended payments
  • eligibility for other Social Security benefits, the method of claiming and where to get further advice
• providing a queuing system at HB offices that indicates how long it will be before a customer is seen, and using queuing and ticketing systems to measure how long people have to wait
• using benefit staff to fast-track customers with completed claims and supporting verification documents
• making effective use of queuing time, when phone lines use a queue-based system, to provide useful information and give customers the opportunity to find out more, helping reduce the number of abandoned calls
• having immediate electronic access to the customer's claim information, to allow business to be conducted over the phone, such as reporting a change of circumstance that changes benefit entitlement, thereby avoiding benefit being under- or over-paid
• having clear arrangements for customers' appointees, attorneys or receivers to have all the necessary information to solve a query
• agreeing procedures with advice agencies, who regularly advise customers, that a faxed copy of any consent/authority will be sufficient to allow customers' details to be discussed
• responding effectively to enquiries by e-mail and fax from customers/advice agencies/customer representatives, even if security considerations mean that substantive issues need to be addressed by phone, letter or face-to-face meetings
• resolving queries on the first point of contact, whenever possible
• operating effective record keeping and document management, whether clerical or Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) based, so the customer needs to present verification documents only once in support of a claim
• providing receipts to customers for evidence provided and details of evidence still to be provided together with a clear date of when to provide the information by
• providing posters for display in a range of venues that explain that customers can bring in information to the office rather than post it

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Appeals

Good practice includes:

• nominating skilled individuals to handle queries, disputes, applications for reconsiderations and appeals referrals, ensuring they are correct in law and representing the LA case at tribunal hearings
• including the appeals process in the customer charter and any other relevant leaflets
• implementing decisions from appeals tribunals as soon as practicable - the LA seeks to complete this action within four calendar weeks
• providing customers querying decisions with explanations of decisions and/or written statement of reasons, but ensuring that the decision is correct before so doing
• monitoring corrections of incorrect decisions to ensure they are amended at the earliest possible opportunity
• collecting data on requests for reasons for decisions and analysing data to establish if changes to decision letters are necessary to make them clearer
• ensuring that letters to customers notifying them of decisions inform them of their right to a reconsideration and appeal
• having systems in place for monitoring the standards of appeal submissions, ensuring that they are correct in law and in the format required by the Tribunals Service
• having access to resources able to deal with cases taken to the Social Security Commissioners
• ensuring that the person carrying out the reconsideration of a decision is not the original decision-maker, if practicable
• analysing the reasons for applications for reconsideration and appeals and identifying training needs and instigating remedial action
• having good communication links with the Tribunals Service
• notifying the Tribunals Service of any cases outstanding for over three months
• keeping accurate up-to-date management information on the progress of reconsiderations and appeals
• reporting to senior managers on outcomes against targets and on implementation of appeal decisions.

Performance Development Team (PDT) visited a number of LAs to identify good practice: Good practice included:

• setting up a dedicated appeals team to ensure that reconsiderations and appeals are looked at by a different officer from the officer who made the original decision
• sifting documents pre- or post-scanning to identify disputes
• tailoring decision notices as a result of a reconsideration to individual circumstances rather than producing them through the benefits information technology (IT) system
• analysing the reasons for requests for reconsideration and appeals to inform improvement to the decision making process
• acknowledging requests for reconsiderations and appeals
• visiting or telephoning requests for further information as soon as the need is identified
• ensuring the benefits IT system prevents the submission of appeals without first reconsidering the decision
• reading the Submission Good Practice (Word doc 35KB) prepared by the chair of the Tribunals Service in Sutton in 2005
• using templates for the preparation of submissions
• ensuring timely use of exception reports in monitoring progress of dispute cases
• setting and monitoring achievable but stretching local targets based on previous performance
• training post opening, scanning and indexing staff to identify dispute cases
• training of processing staff in relation to their duties as decision makers
• reviewing and analysing Commissioners' decisions
• carrying out quality checks on submissions
• carrying out quality checks on requests for reconsideration and appeals not proceeding as far as a submission
• liaising with appropriate third parties in relation to appeals cases to prevent ongoing recovery action
• improving the clarity of decision notices
• using specific forms to request date of decision and reason for dispute
• ensuring the benefits IT system is updated at the time of the decision on a reconsideration or appeal is made
• encouraging staff to attend tribunal hearings to gain an understanding of the matters considered in reaching decisions.

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Complaints

Good practice includes:

• setting targets that, as a minimum, match corporate targets for dealing with complaints
• advertising the rights of the customer to complain, for example by posters in public areas, including the right to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)
• making readily available information on how to complain, for example leaflets and complaint forms
• providing a guide on how to complain on the LA's website along with a direct e-mail link to the complaints section
• analysing the reasons for complaints to identify management and training needs and instigating remedial action
• monitoring complaints, appeals decisions and LGO complaints, analysing the causes, taking early action to resolve the problems when complaints reflect wider failure.

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Communications

Good practice includes:

• notifying decisions on claims promptly to customers and, if relevant, third parties. All written communications should be concise, strike the right tone and be written with the reader in mind
• using letters which state the decision clearly, contain no jargon and explain technical terms such as 'non-dependant'
• sending out a leaflet that explains technical terms with decision notices
• having, and routinely using, decision letters that meet the regulatory requirements set out in the relevant HB and CTB legislation
• issuing defective claim notices with a form for customers to complete to explain why the information had not been provided on time, and request the original claim to continue
• including details of what evidence is acceptable when claims are suspended because more information is required
• notifying overpayment decisions reached to the person(s) affected within 14 days of the final calculation.

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