Proposal to Implement a Single Eligibility Check for Unemployed

customersBassetlaw District and

Nottinghamshire County Council…..And others

A R Burton – Head of Revenues and Customers @BDC

Why Unemployed ? Why Bassetlaw DC and Nottinghamshire

CC?• Work together to create integrated first point of customer contact

– we have OSS , First contact • 48 hr claim guarantee on HB/CTB• Can link customer to NCC benefits as well as CAB but methods lead

to insufficient customer impact• Increases in the numbers of unemployed people visiting and

contacting our One Stop Shops- Benefits caseload increasing • Commitment to improving customer outcomes and experience,

access, customer standards, extended hours , good facilities, Mystery shopping, CX buy in

• Strong partnership working with Gateway agencies BCAB , A1 Housing –. Organised for access

• Recognition that the way the public sector deliver services to our citizens needs to be improved

Context• Undertook a Circles of Need® project around worklessness

with all Nottinghamshire local authorities• Developed an understanding of the needs of our unemployed

citizens and the services currently available to them. They are disjointed , lead to poor satisfaction , inconsistent advice

• What if we could develop a system that explains to an unemployed customer whats out there for them in a single assessment to meet their needs. ICT rule based.

• Strong alignment to Total Place agenda – we are helping to developing a whole area approach to public services leading to better accessible services at less cost. Reducing duplication and ensuring services actually meet customer need will enable this

National context“There are 290 different agencies working with citizens who are out of work, and that in some areas of the country there can be as many as 9 different agencies administering as much as £250,000 on the same family, without reference to each other.” Sir Michael BichardTreasury adviser and former permanent secretary at the then Department for Education and Employment

There are 19 separate Application Forms

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application formApplication Form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application formApplication Form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application form

Each service has it’s own

application formApplication Form

Completes

Completes

Completes

What we found

20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks

17 separate assessment processes

20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks20 Eligibility/Entitlement

checks

20 separate eligibility/

entitlement processesGoes through

Goes through

20 separate sources

of revenue

8 separate sources of advice

8 separate sources

of education

7 separate sources of

expert resource

6Circles of Need® - all content is © Aperia 2009

MICHAELSEGMENT:- Newly UnemployedGENDER:- MaleAGE GROUP:- 30-45RELIGION:- n/aSTATUS:- Married/long term cohabitingDEPENDENTS:- Average of 2 children

Service silos

• BDC- Northgate e benefits• NCC FSM.SUG, STG cross checked via data

sharing to determine elibility• JCP Eligibility script which cannot be released,

JSA/IS ,HMRC?• CAB JSA,IS, ESA, MRS , HMRC , LEGAL ADVICE• Non system, debt, loans , child care

Customer experiences

“No-one has asked me what I

want”

“Can you just point me in the right

direction? I’m happy to put the effort in but I don’t know

where to go””

“I have no idea where to turn to

get the help I need”

“We asked over and over again, and did a lot of

research online but it was all a mess. So in the end we gave up and didn’t

bother claiming anything as it was too much hassle”

“Why can’t I get all my questions

answered by the one person I come

to see?”

“I really don’t feel I’ve had very much

support at all”

Customer frustrations• Having to ask for specific support as opposed to being offered all

the support that is available to me• No idea where to turn for the support they need – a maze of

organisations and services• Unable to determine what support I am actually eligible for• No-one asking about my needs, circumstances or what support I

want – standardised offerings• Having to visit multiple locations and speak to multiple people• Having to repeat the same information over and over again – “very

frustrating that I constantly have to tell you I’m married and how long I’ve been unemployed for etc.”

• Palmed off from pillar to post – from one organisation to another• Hearing of services / support from my friends but not being told of

this by public sector

Customer improvements• One person to help me out – signposting to all the services I’m entitled to

and how to get them• A sheet of paper explaining which services I can access, how they will help

me and how I get them• Tailored support as a result of my circumstances – I’m not the same as

everyone else• Someone to tell me what support is available before I become made

redundant• Simplify the language you use in leaflets and on websites• Reuse information I have already told you

What we want to do• Develop a rule based IT system. One that highlights/determines a

customer’s entitlement to a service based on the answers we input

• They enter what they receive already eg child benefit, which updates follow on questions or basic details will update questions if tyhey receive no current entitlements

• Objective is to narrow from a list of 25-40 services a list of services the customer is entitled to based on the answers to questions the customer provided.

Features

• The short-term pilot, must meet the following criteria:

• · Web-based

• · Easy to use

• · Secure – although no data will be captured or transferred, it is critical to ensure that the information is not made available or retained in anyway.

Features (2)· Web-based –use by customers on-line and also to be used by mediating BDC, NCC, JCP, CAB

and the Credit Union. Options for how and where the system is hosted should be offered by bidders, identifying the cost implications, advantages and disadvantages. Pilot to run with BDC and CAB front of house but with self serve option available

· Easy to use – both from a perspective of the language used and also the way that information and the layout is presented– a non-user friendly approach would probably result in subsequent telephone calls and hence would be of no value to the agencies

• Secure in the future (if data is going to be held).Option to save session so use of username and password

• Easy to maintain – such that changes to criteria can be changed without significant cost or effort. It is not envisaged that any changes will be delivered during the 6 month duration of the pilot,

• • Scaleable across other areas to allow the scope to extend to include other customer segments

and hence different services. During the pilot, there will be no scale required, but again should the tool become a longer-term option, then this would become important

• · ·

What we will deliver

Eligibility Assessment

Customers consent

Customer makes contact

Yes

No

List of services that the customer is eligible for

End of process

Mediated Service

Customer logs on to

council website

List of services that the customer is eligible for

Self Eligibility Assessment

Future

Eligibility Assessment

Customers consent

Customer makes contact

Yes

No

List of services that the customer is eligible for

Apply for them Yes

Captured Information is

re-used to populate

application forms

No

End of process End of process

RIEP FUNDING

RIEP do not determine supplierFormal RIEP project , highlight reports etcOpen mind , successful technical partner will be

the one that can deliver a solution set out in the spec

Questions to drive the system come from PT who will define questions through use of process maps and scripting

What this will achieveMuch improved Customer Outcomes

• Customers are much more informed of all the services that they are actually eligible for at first point of contact – much improved customer experience and greater levels of customer satisfaction

• More personalised, tailored customer service for each customer – the customer will feel valued during what is a particularly difficult time. Needs left unchecked can lead to downward spiral

Significant Efficiency Savings

• Improved use of resources by undertaking a joint eligibility check once rather than each service area undertaking a separate eligibility check – significant efficiency savings and a reduction in avoidable contact

• Potential for significant efficiency savings through the migration of the single eligibility check from face2face to the web – enabling self-eligibility checking of all the services a customer may require will release resources to actually deliver these services rather than simply checking that a customer is entitled to them

And ultimately…

Improving the way that support is delivered to unemployed citizens will increase the number of people returning to work, improving the lives of many of our families and reducing the long term reliance on expensive public sector support..with YOUR help