Value for money checklist
By value for money we mean achieving the same outputs for less resource or additional outputs for the same resource. In many ways an efficient service equates to an effective one - streamlining processes and reducing waste.
The checklist is not exhaustive or prescriptive by any means, you may already be applying some of these things successfully, in which case we'd be really interested to learn from your experience and share it with others. You may have considered them and rejected them; as they may not be appropriate to you. We fully recognise that there is no one size fits all solution for all benefits services. We have prepared the list so you can go through it and consider if any of the initiatives may be useful in helping improve the value for money of your HB/CTB services.
The list includes links to case studies and hints & tips with details of where efficiencies have already been achieved in some instances and we will add to the list over the coming months. A greater level of detail can be found in the revised Performance and Good Practice Guide which contains further information on many of these areas.
If, after considering the checklist, you want to know more about how DWP can help, please contact the Performance Development Team (PDT) who can provide support in the areas listed below, or put you in touch with others who can help.
| Accommodation |
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| Can accommodation costs be reduced through the release of property? Home working, mobile working, hot desking, and sharing facilities with other services can reduce your requirements for accommodation. |
| Appeals |
| You can help minimise the volume of appeals received and eliminate reworking through ensuring that customers fully understand their benefit entitlement. This can be achieved through having clearly worded, plain English decision notices and specific appeals/reconsideration forms which encourage customers to provide full reasons for any dispute. Leaflets which make it clear the difference between an appeal and a request for reconsideration could also help reduce the volume of unnecessary appeals received. |
| Benchmarking |
| You may wish to consider benchmarking with other comparable LAs and include costs per claim information and compare the level of resources dedicated to HB/CTB in order to share good practices on efficiency. You could also make maximum use of available information such as the DWP's HoBOD when selecting LAs to compare against. |
| Business process re-engineering (includes LEAN and systems thinking) |
| Focussing on adding value to the customer and addressing essential front and back office functions might highlight areas of your processes where savings could be made. There are also a range of tools available to help you do this including the Business Improvement Package (BIP) published by the Regional Centres of Excellence and the CLG in spring 2007. It is a store of knowledge for change management, providing practical tools for process improvements and collaboration on services. The Package is available on the BIP website. Or, for PDT hints and tips on BPR you can view the PowerPoint presentation below: |
| Customer service |
| Providing a variety of channels for customer contact such as home visits (including mobile assessment), on-line and telephone claims and extended opening hours can help ensure that claims are dealt with effectively the first time, reducing work and driving down costs. You can use customer feedback to identify opportunities to improve the service further and promote the most effective channels your customers can contact the service through. We published an article on telephone claims in HB Direct in June 2008. |
| Efficient Processing |
| Consider ways that you can maximise the opportunities to obtain all information needed to process claims the first time, such as well designed claim forms and educating customers on the benefits of producing all their information at the first point of contact. This can minimise re-working and double handling. |
| E-enabling |
| Consider using innovative IT solutions which can help reduce the time taken to gather information and remove reworking, such as: on line calculators/claim forms and character recognition software for reading data off claim forms. |
| Home working |
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Having flexible working arrangements such as home working can help improve productivity and customer service. Costs associated with training, overtime and accommodation can also be reduced as a result of lower levels of turnover and absenteeism. Here are two PDT reports on home working plus two case studies. |
| IT systems |
| You can evaluate the systems you have in place and consider whether they support your current and future needs for improved efficiency. Working in partnership with your software suppliers can improve the value for money received, systems performance and facilitate change. Joint procurement of systems with neighbouring LAs can provide economies of scale and if using the same system; can provide for flexible joint working arrangements. |
| Learn from others |
| Through peer support and the sharing of good practice. You can utilise tools available through improvement agencies such as the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships, IDeA, CIPFA, IRRV, see here to go to our Useful links page. |
| Maximising the effectiveness of your workforce |
A workforce that is empowered to develop and implement solutions can lead to performance improvements and the efficient running of the service. This can be achieved through:
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| Overpayments |
| You can minimise overpayments through prioritising documents such as end of entitlements and changes of address notifications. Reviewing your overpayments policy can improve your recovery rates, reduce write offs and help maximise subsidy income. You may consider using DWP's Debt Management Service. |
| Partnership/Joint Working |
| Joint working with other LAs can achieve economies of scale. Joint procurement of services such as training, recruitment and IT systems can generate efficiencies. Consider working in partnership with other LAs, Jobcentre Plus and The Pension Service on fraud and other benefit-related initiatives. |
| Payment of HB |
| Paying by direct payment can reduce the costs of printing and the posting of cheques. |
| Performance and Workflow Management |
| Simplifying the use of your document management system can reduce the number of documents requiring work by assessors. Ways of doing this include reducing and reviewing the number of document types for scanning. Here's a PDT case study: |
| Plan effectively to introduce new policies |
| For example: Local Housing Allowance, Government Connect, HB Information Flows Programme, unitary status. |
| Planning |
| Can HB/CTB services feature in your LA's business plans where possible? This can be underpinned with a HB/CTB service specific business plan that includes; objectives for efficiency savings and value for money/performance improvements and has regard for changes to the HB/CTB scheme (e.g. Local Housing Allowance). Make your staff aware of these plans, including how their roles and responsibilities can contribute to achieving the aims and objectives of the plan and those of the LA as a whole. |
| Shared services |
Economies of scale can be achieved from working with others. For PDT hints and tips on shared services view the PowerPoint presentation below:
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| Take-up work |
| If you are planning take-up work, consider what wider resources could be drawn on to do this and how this might be combined with other LA promotional work to reduce costs. Consider working with your stakeholders and voluntary organisations, take-up can be linked with other strategies such as health, social services and free fares. |
| Visits |
| Visiting officers should have a good level of HB/CTB knowledge in order to minimise the number of follow-up requests for information required. |
