No Wrong Door at the Department for Work and Pensions

The Situation

Put simply, public sector customers want better access to services. A revolution has occurred in consumer services over the last 10 years. Customers expect to be able to speak to their bank at 2 A.M. or shop online from anywhere in the world. But what about public services? 

Whilst choice is starting to enter many areas, the vast majority of government services are still delivered by monopoly agencies that face little competition. Citizens, therefore, don’t have the same ability to “switch service providers” as they do in the private sector. And yet, the public sector is determined to catch up with customer service standards set by the private sector.

The Solution

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)—the largest in Whitehall with 100,000 staff and 26 million active customers—has embarked on an ambitious Department-wide change programme supported by Capgemini. One aim of the programme is to join up services based on customer need and achieve best outcomes for citizens, whilst driving out waste and increasing efficiency. DWP calls its approach to joined-up services “No Wrong Door,” and Capgemini has created a customer contact model to give a complete and Department-wide view of customer contact volumes and channel patterns.

The Result

DWP has accurate data about channel use and customer behaviour that helps it provide a robust foundation to design future services. With citizens initiating over 600,000 contacts daily across the Department’s agencies, the model is an incredibly valuable tool to serve DWP’s customer vision.

John Howells, Vice President of Capgemini’s Public Sector Transformation Practice, says: “Capgemini is using its public sector and transformation experience to help DWP deliver the more efficient joined-up services that customers want, and this project is an important step in that journey.”