In 2003, Swale Borough Council had one of the worst new claim processing PIs in the country; 178 days for 2003/04. Three inspections from the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) highlighted many problems for the benefits service.
The Council, with the assistance of consultants, undertook an assessment of all the current processes involved in a benefit claim. Analysis of the work identified that less than 35 per cent of incoming work was related to helping complete a claim, the rest was related to the backlog effect.
The work flows were recorded and this identified the baseline for the redesign of all benefit processes and work flows. Front line staff were involved and empowered to design flows that met the needs of customers.
The Council was able to design its revised process in a way that met the needs of the customer through cutting out unnecessary progress chasing and re-enforcing the ownership of the claim to an individual member of staff. The Council also put a greater emphasis on customers providing the right information quickly at the start of their claim.
The success of this new approach was supported by PIs for new claims (unaudited figures) in 2005/06 which are now approaching the DWP target of 36 days.
In relation to the efficiency challenge, what barriers did they encounter?
- Risk aversion
- Service policies
- Staffing issues
- IT systems