Policy paper

Action 9: there will be a cross-government approach to assisted digital

Updated 16 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This action forms part of the Government Digital Strategy.

Here’s how departments are responding to this action:

Attorney General’s Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

When designing new services, or redesigning existing services, the Law Officers’ departments will consider the needs of those who are unable to access the internet, or find it difficult to do so. They will ensure that, where necessary, support and encouragement is available for those who could use the digital channel and that phone or face-to-face support is provided for those who will never use digital channels.

Progress during 2013

Law Officers’ departments have not launched any new digital services or redesigned existing ones in 2013 but continue to support assisted digital.

Planned activities in 2014

Law Officers’ departments will ensure that any new or redesigned services in 2014 will consider the needs of those who are unable to access the internet, or find it difficult to do so. Where necessary, support and encouragement will be available for those who could use the digital channel, and phone or face-to-face support will be provided for those who will never use digital channels.

Progress during 2014

Law Officers’ departments have not launched any new digital services or redesigned existing ones in 2014, but continue to support assisted digital.

Planned activities in 2015

Law Officers’ departments will ensure that any new or redesigned services will consider the needs of those who are unable to access the internet, or find it difficult to do so. Support and encouragement will be available for those who could use the digital channel. Phone or face-to-face support will be provided for those who will never use digital channels.

Cabinet Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

GDS will set up a consistent cross-government approach to procurement of assisted digital support. Cabinet Office will incorporate assisted digital arrangements in all of its future redesigned transactional services.

Progress during 2013

Cabinet Office is committed to incorporate assisted digital arrangements in its future redesigned transactional service, and this has been delivered within the Electoral Registration Transformation Programme.

Planned activities in 2014

Cabinet Office will remain committed to incorporating assisted digital arrangements in all future redesigns of transactional services.

Progress during 2014

The Cabinet Office Digital and Technology Team (CODATT) promoted the importance of assisted digital provision. The assisted digital requirements for the Honours and appointment service (HAS) exemplar were developed and tested during the discovery phase of the project.

HAS is a cross-government service, with each department participating in the nomination process. Departmental stakeholders were directly involved in the discovery phase to understand specific user requirements and user stories.

Cabinet Office is represented on the cross-government Assisted Digital Delivery Board and the Digital Inclusion Sub Group.

Planned activities in 2015

CODATT will continue to ensure that all existing and new services implement assisted digital services to support offline users.

HAS will have assisted digital provision in place when the service goes live. Departments will continue to be involved in future phases of the service redesign and development.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will identify what assisted digital provision users need in each digital by default project, starting with the 4 exemplar projects identified in its strategy. It will then determine the right alternative channel for assisted digital delivery. It will reuse existing contracts for external assisted digital provision where appropriate. The department will encourage government to use existing assets for assisted digital including Post Offices, Citizens Advice and UK Online Centres.

Progress during 2013

The BIS exemplar services are working closely with Government Digital Service (GDS) to further develop assisted digital, identifying requirements and the potential demand to develop schemes. The Insolvency Service exemplar is currently developing a user journey for its assisted digital customers. Student Loan Company (SLC) has been exploring options with the Post Office, libraries and Citizens Advice to extend their assisted support beyond universities and colleges. More broadly, the Post Office supports the assisted digital agenda across government in many ways, from its support of Go ON UK to the work it does with other government departments.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with the exemplars to ensure that all assisted digital requirements are met. BIS will ensure that the expertise and support offered by the expanded Assisted Digital team in GDS is made full use of in 2014. It will continue to contribute to the cross-government Assisted Digital Programme Board to work collaboratively and share knowledge on this agenda.

Progress during 2014

BIS and some of its exemplars participated in cross-government assisted digital workshops, helping to shape cross-government policy and strategy.

Information on assisted digital was shared with the BIS Service Assessors group, across BIS via internal communications and through the Digital Leaders Forum.

The Head of Assisted Digital at GDS attended the first BIS Digital Leaders Forum in June to talk about the assisted digital approach. GDS ran a session at the BIS Digital Fortnight on assisted digital and digital inclusion.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to influence and respond to assisted digital strategy and policy. It will implement approaches designed to work well for the customer and wider business.

It will continue to build assisted digital capability within partner organisations so those who need support receive it.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will continue to support the cross-government approach to assisted digital, which will ensure that people who have rarely or never been online will be able to access services offline.

Progress during 2013

DCMS has been committed to the government’s work on assisted digital. All its consultations have been available offline for members of the public who are unable to get online. The department has made use of regional papers and broadcast channels to send out localised messages for hard to reach areas of the country.

Planned activities in 2014

DCMS will continue to support the government’s work on assisted digital.

Progress during 2014

All DCMS’s consultations have been available offline for members of the public who are unable to get online. The department has made use of regional papers and broadcast channels to send out localised messages for hard to reach areas of the country.

Planned activities in 2015

DCMS will continue to support the government’s work on assisted digital.

Department for Education

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

DfE recognises that not all of its customers and audiences are online, and that not everyone will be able to use these services independently. They are therefore aligned with GDS’s cross-government approach to assisted digital, with this central to the Customer Contact Channel Shift project.

Progress during 2013

The Department for Education (DfE) channel shift strategy has been commissioned and will include assisted digital in its scope.

Planned activities in 2014

The channel shift strategy, which includes assisted digital, will be implemented in the first quarter of 2014. DfE expect to see a reduction in avoidable contact and more users using online services, benefitting from a better user experience.

Progress during 2014

DfE worked to provide inclusive services that meet the diverse needs of its user base.

Planned activities in 2015

DfE will continue to work on providing inclusive services that meet the needs of its diverse user base, ensuring all new or redeveloped digital services have an assisted digital plan in place.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) welcomes the planned provision by GDS of a common procurement framework to make it easier to set up assisted digital support services. It will encourage the development of intermediaries and franchises (with partners like farm software providers) which will allow others to provide services on its behalf.

Progress during 2013

Defra has been working closely in 2013 with GDS to support a common approach to assisted digital support. In particular, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) delivery programme has developed user roles to identify the kind of customers needing support.

Planned activities in 2014

Defra will continue to develop plans for CAP customers who genuinely need support. Defra are also keen to support work by GDS to join up requirements, so that shared and consistent support to individuals across the full range of their interactions with government is provided.

Progress during 2014

Defra worked closely with GDS to support a common approach to assisted digital support. The Rural payment (CAP) delivery programme developed detailed plans for a telephone triage process and face-by-face digital support centres, and started testing them. Defra began assessing assisted digital support required for the Waste Carriers and Rod Licence services.

Plans for 2015

Defra’s launch of the new Rural payments (CAP) information system in early 2015 will include assisted digital support aligned with the cross-government approach. This will be further developed in line with experience and customer needs.

Department for International Development

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department for International Development (DFID) delivers very few transactional services but, where it does provide services, it will always look to be consistent and accommodate the needs of all users.

Progress during 2013

DFID delivers very few transactional services but is committed to ensuring that they will always look to be consistent and accommodate the needs of all users.

Planned activities in 2014

DFID will ensure that all new or redesigned transactional services look consistent and accommodate the needs of all users.

Progress during 2014

DFID delivers very few transactional services but remains committed to ensuring that they will always accommodate the needs of all users.

Planned activities in 2015

DFID will ensure that all new or redesigned transactional services accommodate the needs of all users including those from low-bandwidth countries.

Department for Transportation

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

It will ensure new and existing Department for Transportation (DfT) digital services, and new policies include provision for assisted digital, assessing the impact of digital improvements on equality. It will work with GDS and other departments and organisations to develop a cross-government procurement for assisted digital services.

Progress during 2013

DfT has supported the cross-government approach to assisted digital through active involvement in the working group and hosted a market engagement event to engage potential providers of assisted digital services to the public.

Planned activities in 2014

DfT’s exemplar services will be designed with assisted digital delivery as a core part of the design, rather than as an afterthought. DfT will continue to participate in work on assisted digital and digital inclusion.

Progress during 2014

The department continues to work with the Cabinet Office on the further development of its assisted digital approach.

Planned Activities in 2015

As part of the rationalisation across the department’s agencies, DfT will look to share their approach to assisted digital, in particular the role and scope of the department’s call centres.

Department for Work and Pensions

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Some users of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) services currently cannot or do not access the internet. DWP will ensure there is a clear offer of support, working with partners and other government departments. For those who will never be able to use digital services, even with support, other options will remain available.

Progress during 2013

DWP continued to work with GDS assisted digital team and programme board. The department delivered a presentation of the DWP position at a market engagement event, and engaged with all DWP digital programmes to support them on approach.

In partnership with the Tinder Foundation, supporting the work of UK Online Centres, DWP has been designing an approach to digital inclusion. The department created the Digital Deal Challenge fund, with 12 projects testing new ideas to support the digitally excluded. They’re also working with the new GDS digital inclusion team, contributing £50k to a research programme beginning its own research into support for digitally excluded DWP claimants and customers.

Planned activities in 2014

DWP will aim to agree an assisted digital approach for the digital exemplar services and for the future development of Single Tier Pension digital service.

Progress during 2014

DWP completed Carer’s Allowance trials using 2 third party organisations in August 2014. It also trialled assisted digital approaches using 3 Jobcentres and is in discussions with further third party organisations to extend trialling.

DWP developed department-wide assisted digital principles. These principles build on the concept that good assisted digital support:

• is clearly based on the needs of the user
• acts as an alternative way to access digital services
• includes an opportunity for learning, and encouraging users to use digital services independently in the future (where possible)

Planned activities in 2015

DWP will ensure that all assisted digital provision follows agreed departmental principles. It will provide a clear offer of support, working with partners and other government departments.

Department of Energy and Climate Change

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will ensure that every digital service has an excellent offline alternative for those who really need it. It will also ensure that those who could reasonably be expected to use digital, but do not currently, are encouraged and assisted in becoming digitally literate and using its digital channels.

Progress during 2013

One of the workstreams in DECC’s Digital by Default programme is developing assisted digital, in line with the cross-government approach and guidance provided by GDS.

Planned activities in 2014

DECC will aim to provide a consistent, high-quality service for customers across both digital and non-digital channels.

Progress during 2014

As DECC redesigned and designed new services it provided a consistent, high-quality service for customers across both digital and non-digital channels.

Planned activities in 2015

DECC will continue to provide a consistent, high-quality service for customers across both digital and non-digital channels.

Department of Health

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department of Health (DH) is committed to ensuring the accessibility of all its digital channels and where necessary producing alternative formats of policy and corporate material for those unable to access them online. The department will also support the NHS to partner with organisations that help those that are unable to use digital channels to manage their health to do so, in line with the cross-government approach to assisted digital.

Progress during 2013

DH and the health and care system are fully represented on the cross-government Digital Inclusion Sub-Group. The department’s policy is for digital first, rather than by default. Face-to-face contact with its health and care professionals when appropriate will remain an essential, core part of its care.

DH has acknowledged that there is a large overlap between those who are digitally excluded and those most in need of NHS services. To address this NHS England has launched a Widening Digital Participation Project to address the need for assisted digital and increased digital health literacy. The tender was won by the Tinder Foundation (formerly UK Online Centres) who will focus on engaging 100,000 people who are most affected by digital and health inequalities, of whom 50,000 will be trained in using health information online.

It is estimated that the additional NHS healthcare costs associated with inequalities is in excess of £5.5 billion a year. Through this project, the department aims to both reduce health inequalities and generate economic savings.

Planned activities in 2014

Assisted digital and consideration of people of who has never or rarely been online will continue to be central to the department’s approach to digital. DH will assess the success of the Widening Digital Participation project, which is designed to be fully scalable and depending on the evaluation will either continue with it or identify new ways of reaching the digitally excluded.

DH will continue to be part of the cross-government Digital Inclusion group. DH will ensure its own and its ALBs’ new or redesigned services meet the assisted digital aspect of the Digital by Default Service Standard.

The Widening Digital Participation Project will build a sustainable Digital Health Information Network of 400 centres which can be mobilised rapidly to reach 100,000 people by March 2014. This network can be scaled to reach more people in future years, depending on available funding. It will also target ultra-specialist groups who face the biggest barriers to digital inclusion and good health, including homeless people, sex workers, gypsy, traveller and black and minority ethnic communities.

Progress during 2014

DH fully supports the cross-government approach to assisted digital. It is currently auditing all existing services to ensure that all digital inclusion needs are accounted for.

Planned activities in 2015

DH will provide assisted digital support for all new or redesigned services, drawing on best practice at the time.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

As Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) moves more services online, it will carry out a regular survey of customers to establish key reasons holding back use of digital. It will use its contact centres and network of posts to scope out means of addressing assisted digital needs.

Progress during 2013

FCO contact centres have already started capturing customer feedback on GOV.UK, identifying any challenges around access and difficulties in navigating FCO consular content.

Planned activities in 2014

FCO will use the global contact centre platform going live to further increase its understanding of assisted digital needs, including through the use of customer surveys.

Progress during 2014

FCO’s global contact centre network already encourages customers to use GOV.UK as a first point of contact on its information and services. It surveyed its customers to find out what is holding them back from using GOV.UK. The results will be used to redesign its services.

Planned activities in 2015

Promotion of online services will remain a major part of the role of its contact centres. As part of the department’s roadmap implementation, it will be looking at ways to better prioritise customer enquiries. This is so people can quickly find relevant information online and get direct support and assistance where necessary. FCO plans to implement new strategies for assisted digital and to encourage channel shift.

HM Revenue and Customs

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The HMRC assisted digital strategy will detail how it will help, support and encourage those who could and should be using digital services and how it will provide dedicated assistance for those who really can’t get online. In providing help in moving customers to a position where they can engage digitally, HMRC will work with GDS and with other government stakeholders to establish its assisted digital support services.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has developed an assisted digital strategy which outlines how the department will support customers who need additional help to access online services. This has undergone extensive internal stakeholder engagement and has sought approval from the departments’ digital portfolio stakeholders.

The department has also worked closely with GDS to ensure its exemplars have clear plans for assisted digital. It has been active in supporting the procurement exercise currently underway within GDS.

Digital inclusion has been identified as an important area that the department is keen to develop. It has been working with GDS, developing its internal principles with stakeholders, to ensure that this customer group does not get left behind.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue working with GDS to procure services as required to support both assisted digital and digitally excluded customers groups.

The department will work with GDS and internal stakeholders to ensure that digital inclusion is an integral part of its processes, ensuring that this customer group does not get left out. To do this HMRC will produce a set of inclusion principles which align with GDS. It will also undertake research where necessary, with emphasis in areas where there is little or no information about the customer group.

Progress during 2014

All HMRC exemplar services put assisted digital plans in place. An assisted digital pilot ran to support the new Digital iForms service. This will be used to improve the service design for those who cannot access government services online.

HMRC produced a set of inclusion principles and undertook research of customer groups where they held little or no information.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will implement the assisted digital model across the department’s digital services as new services are developed.

HM Treasury

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HM Treasury supports the commitments behind the Government Digital Strategy to ensure that all citizens have equal opportunities to access key services and transactions and that no-one is left behind in this move to a digital by default approach.

Progress during 2013

HMT has supported cross-government work on assisted digital.

Planned activities in 2014

HMT will continue to support the cross-government work on assisted digital.

Progress during 2014

HMT continued to support cross-government work on assisted digital.

Planned activities in 2015

HMT will continue to support cross-government work on assisted digital.

Home Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Home Office will work in line with the government strategy for assisted digital, seeking to ensure that no user will be ‘left behind’ in the drive towards the development of digital services. The department will be seeking opportunities to work in a collaborative way across government wherever possible, and will be engaging with GDS on the development of a single approach for all departments.

Progress during 2013

Home Office has worked closely with GDS to implement assisted digital within the exemplar projects and to consider how existing partnerships can be adapted to include assisted digital provision.

Planned activities in 2014

Work between Home Office and GDS to implement assisted digital channels within the exemplars will continue in 2014.

Progress during 2014

Home Office worked closely with GDS to implement assisted digital in the exemplar projects. The Passports exemplar included assisted digital as part of service design. The exemplar service provides assisted digital through third parties and a high street digital service through the Post Office.

Some aspects of assisted digital do not apply to Registered Traveller as this service did not have an offline predecessor. However, extensive work on digital accessibility testing has been carried out by the team in partnership with the Digital Accessibility Centre.

Planned activities in 2015

Work between Home Office and GDS to implement assisted digital channels within the exemplar and other transactional services will continue in 2015.

Ministry of Defence

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

For those defence audiences who are not online, such as some members of the veterans community, the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency will provide those unable to access digital with the means to do so with alternative support in collaboration with third sector organizations or other means of communications as an exception.

Progress during 2013

Work on this action has been delayed until the appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

Once the new Digital Transformation team is in place work will begin on exploring assisted digital options as an integral part of the transformation of services provided by Service Personnel and Veterans Agency.

Progress during 2014

Defence Business Services identified that its Welfare service (which includes a call centre) can provide targeted assisted digital support for veterans.

Planned activities in 2015

Ministry of Defence will plan how its Welfare service will be used to provide assisted digital support for veterans.

Ministry of Justice

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Ministry of Justice (MOJ) will provide other ways for people to access digital services if they aren’t able to do so independently. It will look to work with a range of external partners to ensure that the right level of support is provided, and focus it on those who need the most help.

Progress during 2013

MOJ provided assisted digital access for services in public beta by maximising the use of existing call centres. The department took account of, and planned for, assisted digital as a key requirement in the product development cycle.

Planned activities in 2014

MOJ will continue to ensure that appropriate assisted digital is provided for all its services in public beta or live and will continue to take a strategic approach to the development of those services through wider engagement.

Progress during 2014

MOJ continued to explore needs and how assisted digital might be provided for offline users of its exemplar services.

It participated in meetings of the digital leaders’ assisted digital sub-committee and worked closely with GDS to set up an assisted digital procurement framework. All 4 MOJ exemplars worked on developing assisted digital support. The Prison visit booking team completed their assessment of assisted digital needs and published their assisted digital survey methodology.

Planned activities in 2015

MOJ will continue to support and influence the work of the assisted digital cross-government group.