21 August 08 – Publication of DWP research report – In and out of work pilot evaluation: Findings from staff and customer research

A report is published today by the Department for Work and Pensions which presents the findings from two phases of research from the In and Out of Work Pilot Evaluation.

The ‘In and Out of Work Pilots’ focused on testing new processes to improve the service to customers who frequently move in and out of work and who have to deal with DWP for their out of work benefits, HMRC for Tax Credits and Local Authorities for Housing and Council Tax Benefits.  The pilots aimed to provide a single point of contact for customers, with information gathered and shared securely across organisations.  This streamlined approach was designed to enable quicker payments to customers giving them greater confidence to take up work, particularly offers of short-term employment.

The research focused on exploring staff and customer views of the In and Out of Work Pilots.  The research involved qualitative in-depth interviews with staff from Jobcentre Plus, HMRC and Local Authorities and a quantitative survey of customers.

The key findings of the research were:

• Comparisons of customer experience pre-and post Pilot were positive. 48% of out of work customers who had also made a pre-Pilot claim stated that their benefits were sorted out quicker in the Pilot.  Only 15% of customers said that the processing time was worse.
• In the first phase of the research, 56% of customers agreed that having been through the Out of Work process they would be more likely to take up short-term work in the future.  At phase two, 10% had actually taken up short term work.  Of these, half agreed that that the ease of getting their benefits through the Pilot had made them more likely to take short term work.
• Staff were largely positive about the Out of Work process, and buy-in to the Pilot across organisations was strong. 
• Staff perceived improved clearance times for benefits, which was borne out by the evaluation, showing an average 15% reduction in times to process claims.
• Staff perceived the In to Work process benefited customers by resolving tax credit claims quicker and securing Housing Benefit Run On.
• The research identified some areas to address to further improve the Pilots’ effectiveness.  Customers did not always return their forms to the Jobcentre and some expressed a preference to provide the information on-line or by telephone.  There was a concern amongst some staff about the new process, and in particular the pilot needed to build trust between staff of different organisations to avoid duplicate information being captured.  Some staff expressed concerns about the implications of a national roll-out, such as the impact on their resources or workloads.  These will be taken on board during the planning stage for national roll-out.

Notes to Editors

• The DWP research report 508 “In and Out of Work Pilot Evaluation: Findings from Staff and Customer Research” is published on  21st August 2008.
• Six local authorities were selected to trial the In and Out of Work process (Lambeth, Liverpool, West Lothian, Sedgemoor, Merthyr Tydfil and West Somerset).
• The research was made up of two main elements; firstly in-depth interviews with staff from Jobcentre Plus, HMRC and local authorities, and secondly a quantitative survey of customers.  The research was conducted in two phases: Phase One taking place relatively early in the operation of the Pilot in November / December 2007, and Phase Two taking place in February 2008.  The two phased approach was to enable the provision of early feedback and to make it possible to distinguish between ‘teething problems’ and more fundamental difficulties with the operation of the Pilot. 
• IFF Research Ltd conducted the research.  The report authors are Lorna Adams, Jen Kelly and Sarah Fish.

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Website: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp