The first step to a system that is ‘digital by default’ is the roll-out of the new system for claiming Jobseekers Allowance, now online at this link. The process is being introduced quite separately from the development of Universal Credit, and all the basic steps will still be there after the formal introduction of UC, which emphasises how little importance should be attached to the label of Universal Credit itself.
It is worth mentionin that Universal Credit documents over the last week or two have replaced ‘digital by default’ with ‘digital as appropriate’.
True, but the notice I received today (the DWP Stakeholder Bulletin) reports the introduction in these terms:
“From 5 April 2013, all claimants wishing to make a new or repeat Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claim by telephone will be assessed for their eligibility to claim online and, where appropriate, directed to the JSA online channel. This is in line with the Government’s ambition for our services to be digital by default and will be a key step in changing the culture for DWP’s customers.”
I am a CAB advisor. I had a client this week who needed to put in a new JSA claim. He and wife were EU citizens, enough English so I could manage the appointment but they had never used a PC and had problems with formal written English. I was told they had to put the claim in online, no alternative.
This ‘digital by default’ approach will put a large burden on advice services. At present when a client has a form, I can help them with the difficult parts, leaving them to complete the name, address, DoB, children etc part which most clients can. And if the client is missing a key piece of information (eg spouse’s NI number) I can send them away with the form and a yellow sticky indicating exactly what they need to enter. With a digital application, everything will have to be done at my desk – which will take much longer – or they will have to try to get someone to help them at a library or the Job Centre. This sort of client usually has not had positive experiences at the Job Centre.and has never been into a library.