Shepway District Council (now Folkestone and Hythe District Council) transformed its revenues and benefits service by reinventing the way that the service operated for both the customer and the council. It received recognition for its work when it won the 2018 iESE Award for transforming through technology.
By developing online services and integration into back office systems the council was able to offer a more efficient, resilient service for the customer while significantly reducing the annual cost for the service area.
Using a combination of technologies not previously combined the council has enabled customers to access services 24/7, while improving its capacity for supporting the most vulnerable service users. This has resulted in a more efficient and resilient service for the customer, while reducing the annual cost for the service area.
The challenge
It was recognised that within the revenues and benefits environment significant time was spent chasing and capturing information and evidence across all external customer centric processes; for example housing benefit, new council tax reduction claims, revenues moves and discretionary housing payment applications. Eighty per cent of new claims submitted did not have enough information to process applications, resulting in additional officer time to chase and source evidence.
The solution
The purpose of developing the revenues and benefits service was to enable skilled officers to allocate their time more appropriately while also offering the customer the opportunity to self-serve at a time convenient to them. Providing a wider range of service channels ensured that customers’ contact with the council was of value to all parties concerned. An example of this was the redesign of all customer-centric processes to capture information at first point of contact and reduce the number of contacts made.
The mechanisms of change encompassed four key areas:
- online application forms:
- process automation
- risk based assessment
- process and organisational change.
The project was the biggest reorganisation of the revenues and benefits service for over 10 years, incorporating not only changes in roles but a major shift in customer interaction and working processes. For officers this was a major change and trust had to be earned by suppliers that integration and automation would be reliable. By allowing officers to test these elements of the system they were able to understand how the process worked and this was built into the staff engagement programme.
Risk based verification (RBV) was recognised early as one of the most drastic changes in working culture. Officers working in a benefits environment have been trained to be vigilant and request evidence of all circumstances. RBV removed this requirement for approximately half of the claims and changes being received and this was a difficult transition for staff. Training was offered to help officers understand the process and rationale behind the change and this has now been universally accepted as part of normal working practice.
The impact
The council set long term financial targets which are on schedule to be met due to the introduction of the service by reallocating staff appropriately and offering a more efficient online service. The council intends to continue to invest in interactive technology to help to serve the customer more effectively and make information more readily available at all times. Following the successful introduction of online services and process/organisational change in revenues and benefits, the council is now in the process of operating a council-wide transformation project to ensure that customers have easy access to services as and when convenient while also using funds and resources effectively.
Locally, the change to service has also demonstrated an appetite from customers for online services with over 50 per cent take up in the first year of implementation. This is expected to increase once further services are available, such as online accounts. This has enabled the council to progress further development of online services on a council-wide level which will change the face of the council for years to come; while also helping to meet the financial constraints local government faces. The development of not only an online landlord portal, but also in-house developed landlord notification forms, has seen the traffic of visits to the landlord section of the website increase 1,037 per cent between September 2016 and September 2017. This service has enabled local and national landlords to liaise with the council and gather required information at their convenience rather than having to email or telephone the council, saving valuable time of service users and officers alike.
This has enabled the contact centre to target its resources more effectively to assist the most vulnerable customers who need further support and assistance. The impact of the changes was recognised by the council with the introduction of webchat to assist customers online. It was decided that the council should extend its operating hours to be able to offer assistance to customers at a time that is more convenient to them. By doing this through webchat, costs are reduced as one officer can service multiple chats at any one time which enables the council to use its resources more efficiently. Webchat is now available 8.30am to 8pm weekdays and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays, extending from the traditional 8.30 to 17.00 Monday to Friday options.
This has received a positive response from customers as exampled below:
- “An efficient and prompt response. A useful addition to the on line platforms”
- “Really great service, fantastic response time friendly and I will definitely use this service again should I need to”
- “A reliable and fast way to clear doubts”
The initiative has impacted on not only the revenues and benefits team but other areas of the council as well, such as the contact centre (telephone and face to face services) and corporate debt. Prior to the changes the team was split into two sections: a benefits team and a council tax team; with officers working in one area only. By removing low value processing work with automation the council were able to enable officers to use their time more effectively. This also allowed the council to upskill all officers and incorporate them into a new role of revenues and benefits officer. Each officer would maintain their core speciality but were also trained in the other element of work. Skills in all areas have also been developed by working with partners and suppliers as online services and forms develop via council officers, such as the creation and development of in house forms such as landlord notification forms.
How is the new approach being sustained?
A service improvement group continues to meet every week to review customer feedback and to further develop the service. Since full rollout the group has made changes to forms; reacting to customer feedback, such as rewording and reordering questions for customer ease. Further forms have also been developed using the council’s in-house development team. These have been aimed at other customer interactions that were not covered by the scope of the original project, such as the development and introduction of forms relating to council tax recovery. The council received feedback that customers found the process of completing a change of circumstances form too long. In response to this, a shortened form was developed, for example, to provide an updated wage slip, which reduced the interaction time for the customer whilst collecting all the data needed for the council.
Lessons learned
Involving customers and officers at the front and back end of the forms and process mapping was key. During implementation, officers were involved in shaping the new service and their input has helped in ensuring that the forms and integration of data is of the highest level possible. By ensuring this buy-in the council kept officers updated (via regular update meetings, emails, etc.) and they helped to shape the future of the service. This included contact centre operatives and technical staff. The importance of buy-in from agencies to support customers and their needs was also important.
The council was conscious of the need to ensure the forms and service were ready before making them public and it was decided to launch revenues forms before benefits to start to get customers accustomed to online interactions. This enabled the council time to work with suppliers to develop and tailor forms to the needs of customer using customer feedback from testing and live environment and lent further time to the more complex forms and integration on the benefits side. During the first months suppliers were on hand to make immediate changes and respond to any issues that arose to ensure that customers did not see a drop in service level.
Contact
Andrew Hatcher
Revenues and Benefits Strategic Manager
Folkestone and Hythe District Council
Email: [email protected]
Civic Centre
Castle Hill Avenue
Folkestone
Kent CT20 2QY