CIPFA - Performance in Public Services: Social Research

Postal Survey

This survey has been developed for local authorities wishing to conduct a survey of clients of the Benefit Service. The main purpose of which is to obtain feedback from users who fall into one of the following groups:

• Benefit claimants who have successfully negotiated the claim's process and have received a notification confirming:
  • their entitlement; or
  • their lack of entitlement; and
• Benefit claimants who did not successfully negotiate the process .

A series of pilot surveys were undertaken to identify the most appropriate and cost effective method of eliciting responses from the above three groups. The development group endorsed the decision that a postal survey provides the most efficient and wide ranging method of obtaining feedback. The group will continue to explore suitable methods by which it will be possible to identify and survey a fourth group, specifically those who make contact with the service but do not submit a claim.

It is intended that the results from these surveys are not obtained solely to provide performance indicator (PI) information. The PI information is purely provided as a by-product of the survey. However it is the development group's intention that a common template be adopted in order to provide benchmarks, enabling comparisons to be drawn by participating authorities. CIPFA will produce an annual report detailing the results obtained, and this report will be circulated amongst those authorities participating. Over time it will become possible to identify trends or changes in the way the service is used. Fundamentally, the main reasons for conducting this survey are to:

• Identify the route taken by the claimant prior to submitting a claim;
• Provide feedback on the claiming experience; and
• Identify any barriers to take up.

Secondary to this is the ability to provide information relating to the Audit Commission Key Lines of Enquiry

• how good is the service; and
• what prospects there are for improvement.

Combining questions within each of these areas, it is possible to identify in which areas the service needs to improve and provide evidence of 'best practice'. Furthermore, and as evidenced by the change in the client base following the recent 'credit crunch', authorities may wish to review these routes and offer more streamlined services that will also lead to a reduction in 'avoidable contact' (NI 14).