Welcome to the December edition of in touch

This month we report on how changes to the way we handle social fund calls has resulted in service improvements for people claiming crisis loan living expenses. We also review performance against targets for our three main benefits.

In addition, we include information about our plans to improve customer service in the future. First, we take an introductory look at a how a Lean approach could help us to improve our customers experience when they claim benefits. And, we also explore how our Customer Needs project is helping us to improve our planning of future services by working with disabled customers.

Latest news

Latest figures confirm improving performance

Our customer service continues to improve according to our latest performance figures.

The clearance times for our three main benefits are all within target. The Incapacity Benefit Year-to-date (YTD) figure is now 13.7 days against the 18 day target. This is the lowest level since records began in 2002. Jobseeker's Allowance has improved to 11.6 days against the 12 day target and Income Support is 9.6 days against the 11 day target.

The final 2006-07 Job Outcome Target (JOT), which measures the number of customers Jobcentre Plus helps into work, was 93%% of profile.

Social fund crisis loans update

90% of calls about crisis loan living expenses are now answered first time as a result of Jobcentre Plus introducing a contingency process for managing social fund calls during the summer. In actual figures, this amounts to around 50,000 calls and 35,000 decisions made every week. To ensure that we can meet demand, we currently have over 700 staff in eight Contact Centres taking calls, and supporting the twelve Benefit Delivery Centres where staff have been trained to make Social Fund decisions.

Over the last ten months, crisis loan applications have risen by unprecedented numbers due to greater customer awareness.

We are now building on our contingency arrangements by piloting a new decision making process for Crisis Loan Living Expenses in Lowestoft Contact Centre. If successful this will expand the number of Crisis Loan Decision Makers to help meet rising demand.

In focus

Lean - eliminating waste to improve customer service

The Lean Project is engaging our people in re-designing processes around customer needs and eliminating wasteful activities. Lean differs from anything weve done before, because we talk to our customers about which parts of the process add value to their experience.

Continuous improvement of customer service using Lean techniques is one part of the wider DWP Change Programme to deliver the Departmental vision of "Work, Welfare, Well-being, Well delivered". It aims to join up services so that our customers do not have to go from one place to another to get the help they need.

Jobcentre Plus is committed to putting the customer at the heart of delivering realistic and practical solutions. We started with Pathfinders to help us understand how best to introduce Lean into Jobcentre Plus. A further six initiatives are now running which will serve as templates for new ways of working across the Department.

These initiatives encompass:

• Applications to the Social Fund (Chesterfield);
• New claims to working age benefits (Newcastle);
• Jobcentre and work focussed activity (London);
• Working age benefits change of circumstances and debt management (Wrexham and Porth);
• New claims to Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance (Cardiff);
• Maintenance of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance (Blackpool).

For any more information about the LEAN initiatives, please email Tim Young.

The Customer Needs Project listening to customer needs

A focus group of over 50 disabled customers has been giving DWP feedback on the service they receive from DWP businesses, including Jobcentre Plus. It was the first in a series of planned consultation events set up to develop a better understanding of our customers and the way we should provide services to them.

The focus group, which met at the end of July, included customers and representatives of organisations like the mental health charity MIND, Royal National Institute for the Blind, Royal National Institute for the Deaf, MENCAP, Disability Alliance and many others.

Over the next few months, we will also be meeting with and listening to views from:

• people with issues, such as drugs or homelessness;
• people making the transition from work into retirement;

We will use the findings from these sessions to ensure our customers needs are placed at the heart of the way we design our services.

Stakeholder news

A round-up of business information for stakeholders

Pathways to Work

Pathways to Work, which helps people with health problems and disabilities improve their opportunities of finding work, is to be extended nationwide.

The service will be available in 34 Districts by 3 December and will be available nationwide by April 2008. The service is currently available in 19 Jobcentre Plus Districts (around 40% of new and repeat Incapacity Benefit customers).

You can find further information on Pathways to Work online.

In work, better off: next steps to full employment

The consultation on the Green Paper 'In work, better off: next steps to full employment' ended on 31 October. The Government is now analysing the formal responses as well as the views expressed to Ministers as they travelled across the country. The Government will respond in due course.

Since the beginning of August, Ministers have visited 25 towns and cities to hear the views of the third sector, local stakeholders, employers, members of the public and DWP staff on the proposals set out in the Green Paper. They have also hosted several radio phone-ins on the proposals and taken part in live web chats. Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions answered questions on the Number 10 website and Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, Caroline Flint held a web chat on the Parents Centre website.

Counting down to Employment and Support Allowance

To help you provide our mutual customers with accurate information on the new Employment and Support Allowance, we are planning a communications programme in the run-up to its introduction next year. We will be placing a particular emphasis on healthcare professionals, customer representatives and employers.

The Employment and Support Allowance is a new regime that will build on the successful Pathways to Work programme by providing work-focused advice and support for customers with less severe health conditions or disabilities. It will also provide ongoing financial support for customers who have little prospect of returning to work in the short-to-medium term.

From autumn 2008, new customers will receive the Employment and Support Allowance. This replaces both Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on the grounds of incapacity.

Local Employment Partnerships

The December issue of Touchbase will include an article on how Jobcentre Plus is supporting customers into work by engaging with employers through Local Employment Partnerships.

Customer news

A round up of information of interest to those advising customers

Fresh look for leaflets less is more!

Over the coming months, we will be redesigning our leaflets to make them easier for customers to understand.

The new leaflets will be dedicated to individual benefits and services and will have the Plain English Campaigns Crystal Mark.

For the first time there will be a clear distinction between Leaflets, which are designed to inform customers about their benefit entitlements, allowances, and mandatory programmes - and Marketing Materials, which help customers make informed choices about the employment options and support available.

We are producing these new leaflets in response to a 2006 National Audit Office report, which questioned whether customers could always understand the information provided by DWP.

Future editions of in touch will include a list of any new leaflets available for you to download.

Young Person's Bridging Allowance

New claims for the Young Persons Bridging Allowance (YBPA) in England are no longer being accepted. YPBA will however continue in Scotland and Wales.

YPBA is an allowance paid by Jobcentre Plus on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to some young people during a break in their training provision.

Back to Black promoting financial security through work

Worries about money often goes hand in hand with unemployment, particularly at Christmas when the pressure to spend is at it's highest. Recent research has shown that people aged 25 49 are most likely to use credit cards to help with short-term financial needs.

Back to Black aims to help customers think about their long term finances by:

• showing that employment is the best way to improve a persons financial situation;
• demonstrate that the financial security of employment brings a better quality of life generally;
• highlight the help available through Jobcentre Plus to those wanting to get into employment;
• Further details will be included in the December edition of in touch.

Reducing delays for EU claims

We have created a new system to reduce delays in handling claims made by customers originally from other parts of the European Union.

The Habitual Residence Test reveals claims have been taking up to three weeks or more to process due to an increase in the number of referrals from 6,500 in 2005 to 18,100 in 2006/2007.

We have now created an electronic referral form to make sure that we gather the correct information upfront when customers make their initial claim call to our Contact Centres.

In the first month of the pilot, 83% of referrals, which included both paper based and electronic referrals, were cleared within 24 hours. And of the 260 e-referrals received from East Midlands and Scotland, 92% had a decision made within 24 hours.

Find out more about the improved process for EU Claims

Readers notices

RNIB Cymru is working to increase the numbers of visually impaired people in employment. It has created the Accessible Learning and Information Centre to provide individuals and organisations with information, knowledge and expertise to help with the retention and employment of blind and partially sighted people. The Centres services include ICT Training courses and Visual Awareness training, concentrating on the accessible computer software that can help blind and partially sighted people in the workplace.

If you would like further information on training courses, please contact us on 02920 449 557, or at alicenquiries@rnib.org.uk

About in touch

in touch aims to provide you with short summaries of the latest news, progress of our modernisation programme, forthcoming changes to benefit rules, updates on performance, as well as news on important policy issues which affect our shared customers. in touch complements Touchbase, the quarterly publication from DWP, by providing a monthly focus on Jobcentre Plus related issues.

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