‘As a nation, I believe we all want a decent safety net: if you’re facing a difficult moment in life, the state should be there to help you.’ – Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, 11 January 2019.
The government says it supports the welfare safety net – but is it still working? Back in December 2018, we submitted evidence to the parliamentary work and pensions committee’s inquiry into the welfare safety net. The … Read more
Civil servants gathered last week at Sprint 13 to discuss the digital transformation of Government. They have 400 days to deliver a radical change, including implementation of the Government Digital Strategy. The aim is to create ‘digital services so good that people prefer to use them’.
We welcomed the publication of the Strategy last November, in particular the way in which it committed to developing both excellent digital services and ‘assisted digital’ provision for those who are offline.
At … Read more
So, it’s out – the new Government Digital Strategy, published yesterday. It’s the fruit of many months of work at Government Digital Service (GDS), working out how to deliver the Government’s commitment to become ‘digital by default’ in its delivery of services.
This content of this strategy is highly relevant to us at Shelter. As a major provider of housing advice nationally, we deliver services across all channels: we have an excellent digital offer alongside equally excellent telephone … Read more
What price Universal Credit? If today’s reports are to be believed at least £10 billion more than previously assumed, as this is the size of the upcoming welfare cut the Department for Work and Pensions has agreed to accept in exchange for the Treasury’s support for Universal Credit.
It’s been known for a while that the Treasury is nervous about the Department of Work and Pensions’ ability to pull off the ambitious Universal Credit programme. Rumours of delay, IT … Read more