Research and analysis

Summary: DWP Customer Experience Survey: benefit customers 2020 to 2021

Published 25 May 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Overview

The Customer Experience Survey (CES) is designed to monitor customer satisfaction with the services offered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to inform improvements in service delivery. It is an ongoing cross-sectional study with quarterly interviewing. This research was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions with fieldwork and data analysis independently conducted by Ipsos MORI.

The data in this report is based on 7,294 interviews conducted with Benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2020 and March 2021. The survey covers eight benefits:

• State Pension
• Pension Credit
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance for children
• Personal Independence Payment
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

This report presents data on overall customer satisfaction and looks at survey data that is mapped to the DWP Customer Charter. The DWP Customer Charter provides standards against which customer service delivery can be measured and a framework to drive improvements in engagement, interaction and satisfaction for both customers and employees. There are four core areas that inform the Customer Charter, which are Right Treatment, Easy Access, Keeping you Informed and Getting it Right.

Research context

The CES replaced the previous Claimant Service and Experience Survey (CSES) in 2019. However, disruption to fieldwork in 2019/20 because of COVID meant that it was not possible to produce an annual dataset. For these reasons the 2020/21 survey data provides a new baseline.

Methodology

Sample

The CES is a survey of customers who have had recent contact with DWP, rather than all DWP customers. When CES replaced the previous CSES in 2019 the sample design was revised: as UC rollout replaced legacy benefits Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support customers were no longer included. CES covers the following eight benefits: State Pension; Pension Credit; Attendance Allowance; Carer’s Allowance; Disability Living Allowance for children; Personal Independence Payment; Employment and Support Allowance; and Universal Credit.

The sample includes benefit customers who have been in contact with DWP during each three-month quarter to either: make a new claim, report a change of circumstances, or (for UC and ESA customers) attend a mandatory Jobcentre appointment. ‘Contact’ includes any time a customer has phoned, written a letter, emailed, visited a jobcentre, filled in an online form, or used their UC Online Journal, to get in touch with DWP. It is also any time someone from DWP has contacted a customer using any of these methods. For the contact to be identified and the customer included in the overall survey population, it needs to have triggered a change in DWP administrative data during the three-month quarter.

A quota sample design is used to meet minimum interview targets for each benefit group and contact reason, with a random sample of customers drawn from the population to meet these quotas. Weighting is then applied to the data so that findings are representative of the survey population: data is weighted by age, gender, length of claim, contact reason and benefit type. For UC customers, data is also weighted by UC region.

Fieldwork

When CES replaced the previous Claimant Service and Experience Survey (CSES), the survey moved to a mixed-mode online and telephone data collection approach. In 2020/21 fieldwork was conducted quarterly. The data in this report is based on 7,294 interviews, conducted with benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2020 and March 2021.

Due to the impact of COVID on DWP service delivery, for example, the pausing of face-to-face service delivery (such as mandatory jobcentre appointments and health assessments) and the use of alternative channels (telephone and online), the survey questionnaire was revised over the course of 2020/21 to reflect these service delivery changes.

Main Findings

Overall Satisfaction

• Overall customer satisfaction was 88 per cent.
• Overall satisfaction for each benefit line was:
  • Universal Credit: 89 per cent
  • Employment and Support Allowance: 83 per cent
  • Personal Independence Payment: 77 per cent
  • Disability Living Allowance for Children: 95 per cent
  • Attendance Allowance: 96 per cent
  • Carer’s Allowance: 93 per cent
  • State Pension: 92 per cent
  • Pension Credit: 93 per cent

DWP Customer Charter measures

This section examines data from survey questions that are mapped against the four core elements of DWP’s Customer Charter: Right Treatment, Easy Access, Keeping you Informed and Getting it Right. The question measures have been selected on the basis that they best represent the charter area topic and have the best coverage of survey respondents (as some questions are only asked to particular customer groups).

Right Treatment

• 82 per cent of customers agreed that staff understood their needs.
• 75 per cent of new customers agreed that DWP tailored services to their personal circumstances.
• 87 per cent of customers agreed that their query or request was handled professionally.
• 87 per cent of ESA and UC customers who had a meeting with a work coach agreed that their work coach was helpful in supporting them find a job.
• 72 per cent of UC customers reported that that their work coach considered their personal circumstances when setting up their claimant commitment.
• 86 per cent of customers agreed that staff did what they said they would.

Easy Access

• 58 per cent of new customers reported that they used GOV.UK as a source of information to find out if they were eligible to make a claim.
• Of those who used GOV.UK to find out about their claim eligibility, 88 per cent reported that it was easy to find all the relevant pages / information they needed.
• 80 per cent of new customers found the process of submitting a new claim easy. For customers who reported a change of circumstances, 82 per cent found the process easy.
• 89 per cent of UC customers reported that they found their UC online account was easy to use.
• 78 per cent of customers reported that when they were last in touch with DWP they were able to get the information they needed first time of trying.
• 88 per cent of new customers agreed that the communication they received from DWP was easy to understand.

Keeping you Informed

• 88 per cent of customers agreed that staff informed them what to do next, after they had been in contact with DWP.
• 84 per cent of new customers agreed they had a good understanding of what would happen next during the application process.
• 71 per cent of new customers reported that DWP told them when they should expect a decision about their benefit eligibility.
• 87 per cent of new customers reported that DWP told them when they could expect to receive a payment.

Getting it Right

• 94 per cent of new customers agreed that DWP made payments when they said they would.
• 83 per cent of customers agreed that staff provided them with accurate information.
• 67 per cent of new customers said they did not have to contact DWP more than once to explain the same information.
• 79 per cent of new customers reported that the outcome of their claim was explained in enough detail to understand DWP’s decision.
• 86 per cent of new customers said they were satisfied with the time it took DWP to tell them about the outcome of their claim.

Customer Characteristics

Equality measures

The following section explores overall customer satisfaction by age, gender, ethnicity, and whether customers reported having a long-term health condition.

Age

• Those aged 66 and above were more likely to report being satisfied compared to customers aged between 25 and 65.

Gender

• There was no statistically significant difference in satisfaction by gender. Overall satisfaction was 89 per cent for females and 87 per cent for males.

Ethnicity

• There was very little difference in satisfaction by ethnic group, ranging from 88 per cent for White and Mixed/multiple ethnicities to 92 per cent for those identifying as ‘Other’ ethnicity. Satisfaction scores were higher among Asian/Asian British and Black/ African/ Caribbean/ Black British customers, whose satisfaction scores were 3 and 2 percentage points higher than White customers respectively, however these differences were not statistically significant.

Long-term health conditions

• Customers who did not report having any long-term health conditions were more satisfied (93 per cent) than those who did (across all categories of health condition).
• Amongst customers who reported having a long-term health condition, those who had only a physical health condition were more likely to report being satisfied (90 per cent) compared to those who reported having both a physical and mental health condition, or only a mental health condition (80 per cent each).

Long-term health condition profile

• 46 per cent of customers reported having a long-term health condition.
• Of these: 17 per cent of customers reported having only a physical health condition; 14 per cent reported having only a mental health condition; and 15 per cent reported both a physical and mental health condition.

Digital propensity

• 92 per cent of customers reported having access to the internet, either at home or elsewhere.
• 74 per cent of customers reported, if it had been available, they could have accessed government services using the internet without help. A further 13 per cent of customers could access government services online with help.