Updated 28 September 2012
Proportion of new claims to Jobseeker’s Allowance submitted online technical description
| Short title | Proportion of new Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) applications submitted online |
|---|---|
| Technical definition | This indicator measures the proportion of new JSA applications submitted online as a percentage of all JSA new claims received and recorded in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Payment System (JSAPS) within the same month.
“Submitted online means” – the proportion of claims submitted online which are then recorded in the JSAPS system, where the online marker that was set when the claim was made is still retained. |
| Rationale | The Department is committed to the cross-Government aim to make services digital by default. Growing our digital services will enable us to deliver a richer customer experience, make our business more flexible and efficient and enable us to respond better to changing policy requirements.
This measure is intended to show the public what the department is doing to improve the service it provides via online channels and help people judge the progress of structural reforms within the department.
SRP 6 – Improve our service to the public |
| Formula | The number of claims submitted online which are then recorded in the JSAPS system, where the online marker that was set when the claim was made is still retained divided by the total number of JSA new claims received and recorded in the JSAPS system. Submitted Online and Retaining Online Marker / Total JSA new claims received and recorded in the JSAPS system |
| Start date | Jobcentre Plus introduced online applications for contribution-based JSA in August 2009, followed by income-related JSA in August 2010 and from December 2010, Rapid Reclaims to JSA. Data was first published in the Quarterly Data Summary in October 2011. |
| Good performance | Good performance would be observed through increases in the proportion of customers claiming JSA online. |
| Behavioural impact | The drive to encourage customers to use online services to improve online take-up will result in a behavioural change of staff within the organisation to influence customers to change their method of contact. |
| Comparability | The measure does not have an internationally recognised indicator that can be used to make comparisons. |
| Collection frequency | Monthly. The most recent in month figures will be reported monthly. |
| Time lag | One month. |
| Data source (which data collection it comes from) | Data is DWP internal Management Information (MI) for both. The measure uses Management Information Systems Programme (MISP) data for both the total number of claims and those made online. |
| Type of data (Whether it is an official statistic, national statistic, survey, MI ) | Management Information |
| Robustness and data limitations | For Jobseeker’s Allowance it is known that this measure tends to understate the total number of claims completed online as the online marker (which identifies that a claim has been completed online) can be lost through either manual intervention by call centre staff or technical errors within the Management Information system. |
| Collecting organisation | DWP management information systems for JSA Online |
| Return format | Excel |
| Geographical coverage | GB coverage only. |
| How indicator can be broken down | Currently at National level only. |
| Further guidance |
