Updated 19 March 2013
Priorities for Digital Services
The Department is making a greater range of services available online and encouraging claimants and customers to use them because:
- digital services increase convenience, transparency and control for claimants and customers
- increasing online self-service enables the Department to focus staff time on the claimants and customers who really need it, and
- for those looking for work, being online is increasingly essential for finding and getting a job.
The Department’s main priority for digital services is to work with claimants and staff to design a compelling, straightforward and attractive online service for Universal Credit, putting online services at the heart of its future business model. The Department is preparing for delivering Universal Credit by getting claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance and other benefits online and encouraging them not just to claim online but also to manage their benefits and jobsearch online.
As well as the 3.4 million people who have already claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance online, over 4 million people have checked their entitlement to the main benefits and Tax Credits online. More than 6 million job searches are conducted every day through the new Universal Jobmatch service which was launched in the Autumn of 2012. By March 2013, the Department will also enable claimants of most benefits to track the progress of their claims and appeals, access a full breakdown of their award and taxable benefits, and check their payment history and next payment online (this will cover Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Income Support, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance).
The Department reports performance against the Business Plan "Proportion of new Jobseeker’s Allowance claims submitted online" indicator in the Annual Report and Accounts and via the Business Plan Transparency measures page – where a technical description is also available providing more technical information about the measurement of this indicator.
The Business Plan indicator is comprised of a single Jobseeker’s Allowance measure. There are however two measures of Jobseeker’s Allowance available.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
The Jobseeker’s Allowance measure used to measure performance in the Business Plan indicator:
The Business case measure – measures the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance applications completed online as a percentage of all Jobseeker’s Allowance new claims received and recorded in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Payment System (JSAPS) within the same month. This percentage figure represents the number of online claims made divided by the total number of claims which are pursued through to a formal decision. This measure is thought to overstate the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims completed online as the percentage of applications started online is higher than the percentage of claims completed which were started online..
The Management Information System Programme Measure – measures the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance applications completed online which are received in JSAPS as a percentage of all Jobseeker’s Allowance new claims received and recorded in JSAPS within the same month. This percentage figure represents the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims submitted online and pursued through to a formal decision divided by the total number of claims which are pursued through to a formal decision. This measure is thought to understate the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims completed online.
- Proportion of claims made online for Jobseeker’s Allowance for both measures (9KB)
– December 2012 - CSV file – Proportion of claims made online for Jobseeker’s Allowance for both measures (1KB) CSV – November 2012
Increasing the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims made online
The Department has put into action a comprehensive plan to increase take-up of online claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance, centred around four main types of activity:
- improving the service
- engaging staff and setting the conditions for local innovation
- increasing the proportion of claimants with access to the internet and the skills to claim online
- making changes to process to build awareness of digital services and set the expectation that they are the default channel.
Improving the service
Objective:
- To reduce the proportion of claimants dropping out between starting and submitting a claim and make the service more attractive and user-friendly.
Already delivered:
- Changes to GOV.UK to make Jobseeker’s Allowance Online easier to find
- Small changes to the online service to make it easier to use (based on claimant feedback and management information on where claimants tend to leave the service)
Underway:
- Substantive changes to the online service (based on claimant feedback and management information on where claimants tend to leave the service)
Engaging staff and fostering local innovation
Objective:
- To ensure staff are confident in selling the benefits of transacting with the Department online and know how to do so. 24% of claimants say staff advocacy is a key factor in encouraging them to use the service (Research report Developing an online service: Customer research into the benefits and likely uptake of Automated Service Delivery (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (1.4MB)
Already delivered:
- Digital Discretionary Fund to support implementation of good operational ideas to drive channel shift
- Digital Awards for individuals and teams who make a difference to take-up
- Digital Delivery Networks across working age operational units charged with using digital services innovatively
- Digital Champions in every operational office making relationships with partners and ensuring staff and claimants have access to the right information about available help
- Senior digital leads in all areas of Operations to drive energy and engagement
- Ideas and best practice from these initiatives are being captured and considered for national roll-out
Digital December communications campaign and activities for staff (including developing their own digital skills)
Increasing the proportion of claimants with access to the internet and the skills to claim online
The vast majority (86%) of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants already have access to the internet (Research report Developing an online service: Customer research into the benefits and likely uptake of Automated Service Delivery (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (1.4MB) . But since being online is increasingly important for finding work and for social inclusion more generally, the Department is also working to support the remaining 14% of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants (along with other claimants and customers) to get online.
There are now over 900 Digital Champions in frontline offices across the Department, including in every Jobcentre. They work closely with local partners and with and claimants and customers to promote the benefits of getting online and to tell them about sources of supported access and training. The Department has also supported campaigns such as Race Online, Spring Online and BBC First Click, and used its employee volunteering programme to support local initiatives to get people online.
Building awareness of digital setting the expectation that it is the default channel
Objective:
- Ensuring that the Department’s business model reflects the move towards digital by default.
Already delivered:
- Strengthen recorded message for those ringing the new claims telephone line to promote online claims
- Promote online claims through Rapid Response service for large-scale redundancies
- Provide posters and business cards for Jobcentres and ask reception staff to promote online claims as the default
- Promote online claims to those signing off benefit for any subsequent claim
Underway:
- Amend letters sent to people moving between benefits (where cost effective)
Testing further action
The Department also needs to use Jobseeker’s Allowance Online to learn what has the greatest impact in getting claimants online. In particular, the Department is testing the impact of a number of measures to increase the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims made online. Three short operational trials ran over the summer, and a further three will be run this autumn. These trials test incentives and disincentives to use different channels, and encourage people who get through to a member of staff on the telephone claim line to go online instead, providing advice about local sources of internet access and offering step-by-step support where necessary. This will not only enable the Department to identify which actions may support a step-change in the take-up of online claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance, but also which should be embedded into the business model for Universal Credit.
