The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) has convened discussions with Chief Digital and Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers from across government to identify key principles and guardrails for the mobile app strategy. The strategy will be finalised next year, as set out in the 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data.

Alongside this, the Government Digital Service (GDS) is developing a GOV.UK App that builds upon the success of the existing GOV.UK One Login identity checking app, which has been downloaded over 5.7 million times.

In its 2022-2025 Roadmap for Digital and Data, the Government committed that by 2025, at least 50 of government’s top 75 identified services will move to a ‘great’ standard, against a consistent measure of service performance.

The framework, developed by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office, in consultation with departments, has quantitative and qualitative elements to assess the end-to-end service, and focuses on usability, efficiency, and compliance. The metrics used to measure these are:

• Usability:

• Digital adoption - proportion of transactions completed online

• Digital completion - proportion that are start online are completed

• User satisfaction - proportion of users that are satisfied

• Efficiency:

• Cost per transaction - the cost to provide the service including staffing, technology and operational costs

• Compliance:

• Accessibility - whether it meets legal accessibility requirements

These quantitative measures are consistently assessed using a benchmark of government services and industry standards to provide a robust assessment. Additional data and context can be included through qualitative assessment to ensure a complete and accurate assessment.

Further information on the framework has been published at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-for-a-digital-future-governments-2022-to-25-roadmap-for-digital-and-data/transforming-for-a-digital-future-governments-2022-to-25-roadmap-for-digital-and-data#the-six-missions

Targeted Case Review is a long-term initiative. Our newly formed Targeted Case Review team is reviewing millions of Universal Credit claims for fraud and error.

Our plans are progressing at pace and through continuous improvement we are assessing progress and evaluating initial performance.

Please note information has been provided in 4 weekly periods for the previous twelve months.

*Calls Blocked refers to the instances when DWP does not allow the call to enter the call waiting queue and the line cuts off.

** Calls Abandoned refers to the instances when a customer decides to end the call whilst in the call queue.

The Management Information used has been taken from the same operational source data systems as our published administrative data. However, as this Management Information is not a recognised National or Official Statistic, it has not been subjected to the same level of Quality Assurance. As a result, these figures should be treated with caution.

Please note information has been provided in 4 weekly periods for the previous twelve months.

*Calls Blocked refers to the instances when DWP does not allow the call to enter the call waiting queue and the line cuts off.

** Calls Abandoned refers to the instances when a customer decides to end the call whilst in the call queue.

The Management Information used has been taken from the same operational source data systems as our published administrative data. However, as this Management Information is not a recognised National or Official Statistic, it has not been subjected to the same level of Quality Assurance. As a result, these figures should be treated with caution.

Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Access to Work has had a significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

The data below shows the average clearance times between the initial date of contact (IDOC) and the date cleared.

The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency.

The data to produce the following outputs is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

• How many applicants reporting mental health conditions were waiting for a decision on their Access to Work applications in each of the last 12 months.

• The information for the average period of time between the approval of an Access to Work application and the payment of Access to Work provision was in each of the last 12 months.

• How many applicants reporting difficulty in seeing were waiting for a decision on their Access to Work applications in each of the last 12 months

  
  

The vast majority of eligible households will receive their payments by the end of November.

A small proportion of automated payments may fail, for example, if the customer has closed their account, but there are robust processes in place to ensure that all eligible claimants will receive their payments, with manual workarounds in place if necessary.

If someone in receipt of a qualifying benefit believes they should have received a Cost of Living Payment but has not received it, it can be reported to DWP from 24 November, and for HMRC from the 30 November. Information on how to report a missing payment will be available on gov.uk.

As detailed in the Fraud Plan published in May 2022, we are investing an additional £613m over the next three years in order to combat fraud and error. This will boost our frontline defences by 75% and will help stop £2.0 billion of loss in fraud.

This investment includes funding for 1,400 more staff in our counter-fraud teams and a new 2,000-strong team dedicated to reviewing existing Universal Credit claims.

More information on our Fraud Plan can be found here:

Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We currently aim to process claims within 35 days from receipt, although following the successful launch of our campaign to increase take up of Pension Credit, we have received an unprecedented number of claims, which has resulted in average processing increasing.

We are processing claims as quickly as possible and streamlining our processes, as well as increasing our staffing resources, which has resulted in the outstanding claims reducing considerably.

All successful claims and arrears are paid accordingly to ensure no one misses out.

During the pandemic, and in direct response to the pressures placed on the labour market, the department opened new, temporary, Jobcentre sites to supplement the existing Jobcentre network.

As the economy recovers, the department is reviewing and looking to close these temporary Jobcentres to ensure it balances providing essential services and employment support for our customers, with value for money for the taxpayer. If any of the new sites offer better, more suitable, accommodation than our existing offices, the department may look to retain them.

The department is committed to delivering a quality service to ensure all claimants receive the best possible support to meet their individual circumstances and its service delivery framework sets out the expectations for the Jobcentre network, and the requirements for how services are delivered – helping claimants move into, or closer, to work.

While there is no target for clearance times, we are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service, including using a blend of phone, video and face-to-face assessments, increasing case manager and assessment provider health professional resource and prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding the continuity of existing awards to ensure they do not go out of payment.

We are seeing an improvement in clearance times and the latest statistics show that the average end-to-end journey has steadily reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 18 weeks at the end of July this year.

Once again, the right hon. Gentleman proves he still does not understand the social care programme that this Government have set out. I think that is deliberate; he chooses not to understand it. For the first time, catastrophic costs are being capped for everyone in the country, regardless of where they live, and the generous means-testing system will ensure that the vast majority of people will benefit and that no one will lose out.

The right hon. Gentleman asks me what I am doing about the workforce. We are making the biggest investment in the workforce that this country has ever seen. Yesterday I announced the merger of Health Education England into the NHS, so that we can have a better joined-up strategy, and we have already set out a 15-year framework to consider the long-term needs of the workforce.

The Department has not made a formal assessment. The reporting requirements for National Health Service commissioners and providers are based on a balanced assessment, to collect timely and clinically valuable data. There are currently no plans to introduce new reporting requirements. When considering future changes to reporting requirements for commissioners and providers of heart failure services, NHS England and NHS Improvement will take account of the views of clinicians, patients and stakeholder organisations.

NHS England’s Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) includes data on heart failure collected in primary care and community care services. In April 2020, the QOF was updated to support earlier diagnosis and management. General practitioner surgeries are asked to collect data to show they have fulfilled their QOF requirements. This update also means that patients with heart failure can expect to have an annual review.

The Government is considering these proposals and will respond in due course.

‘COVID-19: Guidance for maintaining services within health and care settings. Infection prevention and control recommendations Version 1.2’ was issued to ensure that risk assessments should include evaluation of ventilation to ensure maximum workplace risk mitigation. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/990923/20210602_Infection_Prevention_and_Control_Guidance_for_maintaining_services_with_H_and_C_settings__1_.pdf

‘Health Technical Memorandum 03-01 Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises. Part A: The concept, design, specification, installation and acceptance testing of healthcare ventilation systems’ gives comprehensive advice and guidance on the design, installation and operation of specialised building and engineering technology Health Technical Memorandum 03-01 Part A gives comprehensive advice that for other types of healthcare facility that are outside of the hospital setting such as general practitioner practices, a risk assessment of the nature of the treatment being delivered, condition of the patients and intensity of use needs to be undertaken by those responsible for the facility in order to determine the extent to which this guidance will be applicable. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HTM0301-PartA-accessible-F6.pdf

The Care Quality Commission is responsible for compliance with the Health Technical Memoranda under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (revised). There are no plans to allocate funding to improving ventilation standards or to make funding available to improve standards of ventilation.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England and as such, they review all concerns raised with them, consider the risk to patients and take regulatory action when appropriate and proportionate to protect people that use services. The CQC has inspected Kettering General Hospital eight times since 2014. The most recent inspection was in response to concerns raised regarding the care of patients who were at risk of, or and had fallen. As a result the CQC took enforcement action and served a Section 29a Warning Notice. The CQC continues to monitor the provider closely.

A table showing the maximum duration to departure in accident and emergency for each National Health Service trust in England for the financial period 2019-2020 is attached.

We actively identify user needs and take appropriate action to incorporate user feedback in personal protective equipment (PPE) provision. Feedback has largely focused on the fit of face masks where an appropriate fit is critical for effective protection.

Alongside building and managing the resilient supply of high quality FFP3 masks, the Government is improving the availability and quality of fit testing in trusts to ensure appropriate PPE is available to individual National Health Service staff.

We are firmly committed to ensuring that the personal protective equipment (PPE) provided to our healthcare workers is of the required quality, size, and that it fits. We actively identify user needs and take appropriate action to incorporate user feedback in PPE provision, including on gender and cultural specificity.

Our buying teams are aware of the different categories to buy against and source as many different sizes of gowns, facemasks, and other items of critical PPE, as possible. We are improving the availability and quality of fit testing of PPE.