Fraud and error

Error awareness - Update March 2008

The Assessor’s Guide module of this e-learning package was launched on 5 November 2007. It is  aimed at all benefits staff, such as assessors, visiting officers, receptionists and call centre staff, who come into contact with customers. It raises awareness of typical errors made by customers and staff and how to reduce these.

Step-by-step instructions on how individuals can set up their own account are given on the web-site. This allows the software to track each user’s progress, and shows them which parts of the e-learning they have partially or fully completed whenever they log on. We have prepared a Technical Specification (27KB) which you should give to your IT department to ensure that your LA system will allow access to the e-learning web-site. If you are still experiencing technical problems accessing the e-learning, contact the technical helpline at dwpsupport@epic.co.uk where your enquiry will be dealt with within 24 hours.

The package is interactive – users are presented with short tutorials and a number of real-life scenarios in which they have to make decisions. On completing each scenario, they are given feedback and encouraged to reconsider areas where they may not have chosen the best options. It also features a ‘jargon-buster’ and links to useful web-sites so you can dip into it if you need a quick answer, as well as using it as a learning tool.

Although we appreciate that each LA has its own practices and procedures, the e-learning makes some suggestions on good practice that assessors may want to discuss with their managers. The Overview for Managers (54KB) gives details of the content of the assessors’ learning, and we suggest all managers and team leaders prepare by reading this before staff begin the learning.

On 5 February 2008, the second module – a Manager’s Toolkit – was launched on the same web-site. This is aimed at benefit managers and supervisors and covers topics such as managing workload, educating customers and using resources. It has additional links to useful information such as DWP research and further reading that managers may find useful.