Guidance

Chapter 6: Performance Management and Compliance

Updated 17 December 2024

Introduction

6.01. The Department for Work and Pensions operates a robust Performance Management (PM) regime to ensure contracts deliver value for money for the taxpayer and to ensure Providers are accountable for delivering what is outlined in their contract.

6.02. DWP Employment Account Division (EAD), which has responsibility for performance management, has developed a Performance Management and Intervention Regime (PMIR) to support the delivery of provision and to underpin your contract.

6.03. You will be responsible for managing the contract, including addressing poor performance with sub-contractors, and will need to ensure that all systems and processes (including tracking) used for the monitoring and recording of performance are robust, provide a clear audit trail of evidence, and give confidence to DWP that you and your supply chain are delivering the contract.

Performance Management Intervention Regime (PMIR)

6.04. DWP intends to utilise (without being bound by) its Performance Management and Intervention Regime (PMIR). This will centre on monthly Contract Performance Review (CPR) meetings which will be the key vehicle through which DWP drives delivery of performance and service delivery through the AtW.

6.05. CPRs will be conducted by DWP with the Provider and will focus on reviewing the Provider’s delivery of services against the contractual performance levels. Your performance will be managed on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the contracts, including, but not limited to, an in month, rolling three-month, rolling 12-month and cumulative basis from the Service Start Date.

6.06. You must submit an Action Plan monthly to DWP. The purpose of the Action Plan is to give assurance that you have identified the top areas for improvement and have documented specific actions to take to improve them. The Action Plan will be reviewed at each CPR.

6.07. DWP will use MI from PRaP for the on-going management of the provision. DWP will also expect you to capture and use your own MI and retain evidence for contractual and performance purposes.

6.08. DWP’s performance teams may visit your premises or undertake assurance remotely on an ad hoc (announced or unannounced) basis to investigate performance, for example, under-performance or high performance.

6.09. As DWP is committed to transparency on how its programmes are working, you need to be aware that MI may be shared across AtW HA Providers and may also be fed into published official statistics on DWP provision. You must treat information you have access to as restricted for your use only, ahead of formal publication. Official statistics may also cover DWP’s assessment of delivery of the services against the contractual KPIs at AtW HA Provider level.

6.10. At a national level, DWP will host regular Operations, Partnership and Stakeholder Forums to give a strategic focus to Programme performance and delivery. Where required, DWP will invoke the right to move through the four stages of intervention, as deemed appropriate by DWP according to the Provider’s level of performance and responsiveness to meeting requirements. This is in addition to any other rights or remedies available to DWP under your contract.

6.11. DWP intends to utilise (without being bound by) its Performance Management and Intervention Regime (PMIR) and will conduct regular evidence-based compliance checks to assess your performance and to ensure that you are adhering to the delivery model set out in your contract.

6.12. Checks will be conducted on the service delivery requirements as described in the Customer Journey (see Annex 1 of your Specification), the KPIs and in the PMIR. These measures, and the Providers ability to meet them, will be regularly assessed by DWP Performance Managers as part of business as usual.

6.13. Where required, DWP will invoke the right to move through the four stages of intervention, as deemed appropriate by DWP according to the Providers level of performance and responsiveness to meeting requirements. This is in addition to any other rights or remedies available to the DWP under this Agreement.

6.14. The Provider must have the necessary remote IT equipment, which must comply with the relevant DWP policies as defined in the appropriate section of this Agreement, to enable DWP to carry out centralised checks of the Supplier’s systems; this includes the provision of any necessary electronic evidence that is required to undertake the checks effective.

Performance Management and Intervention Regime levels

6.15. The four Levels of the Performance Management and Intervention Regime are:

Level 1: Standard action – DWP Performance Manager led. Performance will be managed on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the contract as detailed above.

Level 2: Enhanced action – DWP Performance Manager / DWP Senior Performance Manager led. An Action Plan will be used to capture all agreed actions for performance improvement including incremental performance and pipeline data that may lead to outcomes, review dates and the Management Information to inform the KPIs.

Level 3: Informal action – DWP Provision Lead or above led. Provider will be invited to a meeting to discuss performance and will receive a management letter to request that performance improves. At this stage the Provider will be informed that formal action could be taken in the event that performance doesn’t improve.

Level 4: Formal action - DWP Provision Lead or above led. DWP will take formal action by issuing a notice to address failure to respond to previous intervention activities undertaken. In the event that performance does not improve to the levels stipulated in the KPIs DWP may take action to terminate the contract.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Performance Requirements

6.16. You are under an obligation to meet or exceed the following performance targets. PMIR escalation process will be followed if you fail to meet all or any of the agreed defined target performance levels described above).

Key Performance Indicators

6.17. The Key Performance Indicators are detailed below. The KPI Targets are minimum performance levels and DWP expects them to be maintained for the duration of this Agreement. Where there is room for improvement, DWP expects performance to improve over the course of this Agreement.

Key Performance Indicator	Description	Target
KPI 1: Acknowledging the referral	Referral acknowledged on PRaP within one (1) Working Day of receipt from DWP	99%
KPI 2: Arranging the Holistic Assessment	Appointment made and recorded on PRaP within two (2) Working Days of receipt of referral from DWP	96%
KPI 3: Completing the Holistic Assessment Report	Holistic Assessment undertaken and Holistic Assessment Report received by DWP within:	96%
	· eight (8) Working Days of receipt of referral (Virtual Standard Holistic Assessment)
	· ten (10) Working Days of receipt of referral (Face-to-Face Standard Holistic Assessment)
	· twelve (12) Working days of receipt of referral (Enhanced Holistic assessment)
KPI 4: Quality of the Holistic Assessment Report	Holistic Assessment report meets the standard of acceptability defined in Annex 4	99%
KPI 5: Reworking of the Holistic Assessment Report	Rework to be completed within one (1) Working Day upon receipt of notification by DWP	96%

Social Value KPI - Reducing the disability employment gap

6.18. You are required to report on the Social Value KPI (KPI 6 in the table below) on a 3-monthly basis to DWP via the eProcurement system, using the template provided.

Key Performance Indicator	Description	Target
KPI 6: Social Value – Reducing the disability employment gap	Total percentage of full-time equivalent (FTE) disabled people employed under the AtW: HA Contract, as a proportion of the total FTE contract workforce	3%

6.19. You should send the completed template to DWP by the 15th day of the month following the last month in the quarter, i.e., in January, April, July and October. If the 15th day happens to be a non-Working Day, then the deadline shall move to the next Working Day.

Cabinet Office Reporting and Publication of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

6.20. Cabinet Office Civil Service Board requires that on a monthly basis all Government Departments capture the performance of their ‘Gold’ and ‘Silver’ tiered contracts by recording the achievements of the top three KPIs for each contract, plus any Social Value KPIs, with the performance data being reported to the Cabinet Office quarterly for publication on GOV.UK.

6.21. As seen in the table below, for this Agreement the top three KPIs are KPIs 2, 3 and 4 and the performance data used will be monthly data. KPI 6 will be reported as the Social Value KPI and shall be reported quarterly.

6.22. For the avoidance of doubt, the Cabinet Office 4 tiers of performance levels are for reporting purposes only, and do not affect whether a KPI target has been met for performance purposes.

Key Performance Indicators and Cabinet Office 4 Tier Performance levels

KPI 2: Arranging the Holistic Assessment

4 – Good = 96% and above
3 – Near Target = 93.5% to 95.9%
2 – Needs Improvement = 91% to 93.4%
1 – Inadequate = Less than 91%

KPI 3: Completing the Holistic Assessment Report

4 – Good = 96% and above
3 – Near Target = 93.5% to 95.9%
2 – Needs Improvement = 91% to 93.4%
1 – Inadequate = Less than 91%

KPI 4: Quality of the Holistic Assessment Report

4 – Good = 99% and above
3 – Near Target = 98% to 98.9%
2 – Needs Improvement = 97% to 97.9%
1 – Inadequate = Less than 97%= Less than 97%

KPI 6: Social Value – Reducing the disability employment gap

4 – Good = 3% and above
3 – Near Target = 2.5% to 2.99%
2 – Needs Improvement = 2% to 2.49%
1 – Inadequate = Less than 2%

Contract Performance Review (CPR)

6.23. You will have as a minimum, monthly discussions with your Performance Manager (PM) and the AtW Service Delivery Team: atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk to review performance in month and trend performance achieved against contractual requirements.

6.24. You will update your PM and commercial contact immediately on any changes to information, data, progress, processes, procedures, and issues relating to this service.

6.25. Action Plans will be used to monitor and support continuous improvement and agreed performance improvement actions

Monthly Management Information Return (MMIR)

6.26. The DWP will use MI presented by PRaP for the on-going management of the Provision and for discussion with Providers. To further support active performance management of the contract, the Supplier will also be required to submit a Monthly Management Information Return (MMIR) to DWP.

6.27. The MMIR is likely to include, but is not limited to, information such as:

• for cancellations, a record of attempted Customer contact;
• for cancellations, a record of all appointments offered to the Customer;
• details of the oldest case – number of days outstanding from referral and reasons for delay, and volumes outstanding at the end of each month;
• the volume of cancellations made by the Provider in-month and year-to-date including reasons for cancellation and the date on which the Customer was re-booked;
• the volume of cancellations made by Customers in-month and year-to-date including reasons for cancellation and the date on which the Customer was re-booked;
• the top ten recommended solutions in-month and year-to-date;
• the number of complaints handled by the Provider and time taken to resolve to Customer’s satisfaction (in Working Days), in-month and year-to-date;
• the number of complaints referred to the DWP in-month and year-to-date;
• anonymised details of the assessors engaged on the contract detailing their skills, experience, clearances and qualifications;
• details of the numbers and reasons where the Standard Holistic Assessment type has been changed from face-to-face to virtual or vice-versa.

6.28. Please refer to the MMIR template Annex D.

Customer Insight

6.29. Every month, you will be required to obtain information from Customers on the usefulness of the Programme. This will be done by the Provider asking the specific question(s) and follow up (by email, link to a provider portal, website or on-line survey and where no other option available, by telephone) detailed below.

6.30. Question 1: “Thinking about your overall experience of the services provided, how satisfied are you with the AtW Holistic Assessment?”

• very satisfied;
• fairly satisfied;
• fairly dissatisfied; and
• very dissatisfied

6.31. Question 2: “Please can you tell us more about why you chose your response? Please be as detailed and specific as possible.”

6.32. Customers will be required to record their response to the questions. Where Customers provide responses by telephone, you will create and maintain a detailed written record of the response. You are required to collate the Customer responses in the template to be provided by the DWP.

6.33. You must send the completed template to DWP by the 15th day of the following month. If the 15th day happens to be a non-Working Day, then the deadline shall move to the next Working Day. You must maintain each Customer response, which DWP may request to review in the future.

6.34. DWP reserves the right to publish Customer responses or a summary of Customer responses (either in the form provided, or in any other form it sees fit). DWP also reserves the right to add to or amend the specific questions that you ask Customers each month.

6.35. Additionally, DWP reserves the right to require the Provider to ask the Customer the questions more or less often. The frequency of collating Customer responses and the deadline for providing DWP with the completed template can also be varied or amended by DWP.

Ad-hoc MI request

6.36. Occasionally you may be asked to provide other statistical data that is relevant to the services you deliver. In these circumstances you should make available for inspection all such records as requested within a reasonable timescale.

6.37. You shall allow DWP access to all MI throughout the life of your contract and maintain all data as specified in your contract.

6.38. As and when directed by DWP, a Provider shall collect statistical data relevant to the Services being provided. The Staff shall make available for inspection all such records upon the request of DWP within ten (10) Working Days.

Compliance Monitoring and Additional Checks

Performance Manager Checks

6.39. DWP staff, including Performance Managers, may undertake checks to complement those already undertaken by the Performance Compliance Officers (PCOs) by looking more in depth at individual cases.

6.40. The checks may also include a ‘go-look-see’ approach where the PM will observe a range of activities, including the Holistic Assessment. These will not only be with you, but also end-to-end delivery partners and sub-contractors (if appropriate). PMs may also undertake ‘deep dives’ into specific areas to understand where there are specific areas of weakness.

6.41. The findings from the checks will feed into a Provider’s CPR meeting.

Performance Compliance Officers (PCO) Checks

6.42. DWP staff, including Performance Compliance Officer (PCOs), perform regular evidence-based checks to identify if Providers are adhering to the delivery models set out in their contracts.

6.43. This includes checking samples of Participant records held by Providers for all related activity.

6.44. Providers must create a system record for each referral and ensure it includes details of all interventions and copies of all documentation.

6.45. DWP will specify the location where the checks will take place and expects them to be centralised in DWP locations or undertaken digitally and remotely by sharing of screens through Microsoft Teams. However, DWP retains the option for PCOs to carry out the checks in Provider’s’ premises where DWP decides this is appropriate. All records must be available on the Provider’s system for inspection.

6.46. The sample of Participants to be checked will be sent to Providers 12 days prior to the PCO checks being carried out. It is expected that Providers will undertake their own compliance checks on the sample and will return their completed checks to the PCO before the agreed compliance meeting date. This is to ensure Providers can have fully informed discussions regarding the sample when the compliance checks are carried out.

6.47. Providers are expected to have the necessary remote IT equipment, which must comply with the relevant DWP policies as defined in the appropriate section of the Access to Work Terms & Conditions, which Providers can bring to the location to enable DWP to carry out centralised checks of Providers’ systems; this includes the provision of any necessary electronic evidence that is required by the PCO to undertake the checks effectively.

6.48. The sample of records to be checked will be selected randomly using a method chosen by DWP. The frequency, periodicity and size of the samples may change throughout the contract period.

6.49. All issues arising from PCO checks are reported to the Provider and relevant DWP stakeholders. Contract Performance Review meetings with DWP and Performance Managers will include discussions around compliance issues identified by PCOs. Actions to address areas of concern re: compliance should be included in your PMIR Action Plan.

6.50. DWP reserves the right to carry out physical checks on documentation as part of this process.

Provider Assurance Team (PAT)

6.51. Information regarding PAT can be found on the DWP Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 6 Provider Assurance

Update: October 2023 – V2