28 Sep 2004

Let’s join up benefits and put an end to the bureaucratic nightmare

The vital aspect of all service delivery to the disenfranchised and needy is flexibility and high-calibre staff who explain things clearly and do what they say they will do immediately. A joined-up service would simplify their lives hugely.

eg. Someone claims Income Support or Job Seeker’s Allowance. They fill in Housing Ben & Council Tax Ben claim forms with their IS / JSA form, which should be forwarded to the local HB / CTB office on their behalf. I say ‘should’ advisedly, and when the forms don’t reach their intended destination, the claimant carries the can for not making their HB/CTB claim within the time limits, and may lose benefit. The HB/CTB office’s line is the claimant should also complete one of their own new claim forms and bring it directly to their office. Daft!

If the IS/JSA claims were made on line at the DWP/Job Center, the HB/CTB claim could be tranmitted instantaneously to the HB/CTB office.

The system for Pension Credit has transformed HB/CTB claims for the over-60’s who qualify for Pension Credit. Their income is assessed by the DWP for Pension Credit and the information is automatically passed onto HB/CTB and they are legally obliged to accept this figure as correct.

eg. A pensioner claims Carer’s Allowance for looking after their disabled spouse who gets a qualifying disability benefit. The Carer’s Allowance is awarded with 3-months’ backdating. The couple get Pension Credit. From the date that entitlement to Carer’s Allowance started they are entitled to extra Pension Credit (Carer Premium), but the actual Carer’s Allowance has to be deducted from the Pension Credit. The claimant has to inform Pension Credit of the change of circumstances. It can take months to sort out, making sure that all the arrears of benefit are correctly paid. (It gets even worse if the spouse’s retirement pension includes money for carer, as the pension has to be adjusted, and then the pension credit has to take into account the reduced pension and the new carer’s allowance. This can also take months even though for Hackney residents Pension Credit and Retirement Pension are administered by the same office based in Glasgow.) I have a case where I am still banging on about money owed from 23/2/04 - 19/4/04.

The situation is the same for younger people, on IS / income-based JSA. It’s a bureacratic nightmare!

I suppose the most frustrating thing for people doing my type of job is the amount of time spent checking and chasing to ensure that the claimant gets what they are entitled to. It is not uncommon to send a complaint letter about delays, with a list filling an A4 page logging all phone calls / correspondence to date. There is no way that most individuals could do this for themselves because it requires such a good knowledge of how the Welfare Benefits system works.

It would be great if the agency dealing with a claim for a particular benefit automatically informed all other bodies of the decision, including local Council Tax, Tax Credit office etc. etc.
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2 examples of things that work well:

1. Council Tax

By sheer chance I have developed an email contact with someone quite senior in the local office. It started because of a complaint I made about rude counter staff. I email this guy frequently and mostly get a reply the same day, or the next working day, AND he gets things sorted out or refers them straightaway to others who run with it.

The alternative is to write a letter, but replies are at best slow in coming and at worst non-existent.

Unfortunately, Jo-public either has to phone (usually engaged) or visit the offices (or write). If their problem is to do with arrears they are forced into agreeing to make payments they can’t afford, with little or no scope for negotiation.

2. Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit

I have an official email for the use of Local Authority landlords. Again, queries usually dealt with efficiently and quickly - especially important when a claim is not being paid for a spurious reason.

The public can also email, but only to ask very basic questions like ‘have you received my claim?’ or ‘is there any other info. you need’.

Telephone enquiries are more of a lottery, depending a lot on who you speak to and how well they are able to extract information from the system.

Got to stop, next client has arrived. This one is multiple debt which is another grim area to explore!

Posted by Helen S on 28/09/04 at 3:48pm
Categories · "What do we want?" · Design: Co-creation

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28 Sep 2004

Let’s join up benefits and put an end to the bureaucratic nightmare

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28 Sep 2004

Let’s join up benefits and put an end to the bureaucratic nightmare

Ideal Government

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