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DWP asking for calls for interest to supply appointment booking system for UC
Public Technology reporting that the DWP ‘plans to create a booking system that will enable Jobcentre ‘work coaches’ to more efficiently book appointments with claimants.’ -
DWP has set out other specifications for potential suppliers, including the ability to search for available appointments within a Jobcentre by channel, for example, face-to-face; by date range, appointment type and duration; and by staff attributes, for example, second languages spoken.
“The department will need a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year system with a Service Level Agreement that provides 99.90% availability, as the appointment booking system will be supporting the UCFS which allows claimants to access their online claim at any time”, said the department.
Blimey .... ‘it is anticipated that 25-30 million appointments will be created and managed on an annual basis’
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/91f81f99-386b-46a7-875f-a572ddc516a7
Blimey .... ‘it is anticipated that 25-30 million appointments will be created and managed on an annual basis’
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/91f81f99-386b-46a7-875f-a572ddc516a7
500,000 claimants at present. So, on current form, 60 appointments per year per person!
Gulp.
It’s in June 2018 that they envisage that number of appointments -
There are currently 740 jobcentres across the UK and Northern Ireland, with over 10,000 DWP staff supporting claimants. Each member of DWP staff who support claimants will have a calendar in the Appointment Booking System. When UCFS is fully rolled out in June 2018, it is anticipated that 25-30 million appointments will be created and managed on an annual basis via the Appointment Booking System.
- so hopefully not quite that many per person ;)
From Part B of document above…
It’s in June 2018 that they envisage that number of appointments -
There are currently 740 jobcentres across the UK and Northern Ireland, with over 10,000 DWP staff supporting claimants. Each member of DWP staff who support claimants will have a calendar in the Appointment Booking System. When UCFS is fully rolled out in June 2018, it is anticipated that 25-30 million appointments will be created and managed on an annual basis via the Appointment Booking System.
- so hopefully not quite that many per person ;)
From Part B of document above…
I was joking. That said, if UC continues to grow at the current rate you still end up with a slightly concerning figure. My guess would be it double books and hopes 1 doesn’t turn up (sounds vaguely familiar for some reason).
DWP have now awarded a £2.5 million appointment booking solution contract with Booking Bug!
Blimey .... ‘it is anticipated that 25-30 million appointments will be created and managed on an annual basis’
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/91f81f99-386b-46a7-875f-a572ddc516a7
And the company they’ve appointed proudly state on their website that:
Today, thousands of small, medium and large businesses across the world are using BookingBug to manage around 12 million customer engagements every year.
So they’re confident of basically increasing their overall workload by more than 100% in terms of the volume of customer engagements…what could possibly go wrong?
My my. This is riven with all sorts of fascinating contradictions. CEO and founder is an ex RBS software person. Co-signed the letter to Cameron a couple of years back explaining that limiting the number of skilled migrants was, ooh, possibly a bad idea.
Software seems very scalable but there is scalable and DWP scalable. Although they say they’ve got some big customers I suspect DWP are on the big end of big and I wonder if they know what they’re getting into. There have been reports of numerous glitches; problems with their IOS and Android apps and patchy customer service. Should be right at home in a DWP environment then!
DWP have issued a tender for an ‘off the shelf’ booking system -
The appointment booking system is necessary, DWP’s tender says, “for the creation and management of claimants’ appointments with DWP staff. The system will host staff locations, availability and skill sets which define the types of appointments the DWP staff are trained to handle. This information will be used to find a DWP member of staff, within a JobCentre, that is available and trained to handle the appointment.”
According to the tender, due to the timescales and the need for the Universal Credit full service to utilise the appointment booking system’s APIs, the system must “meet the stated requirements with minimal additional development work and customisation.” The tender adds, “the department does not require a booking system to be built and custom-designed.”
Closing date to apply is October 9
Thought I was having deja vu at first but then :
‘In May, DWP said it had awarded a 12-month contract to provide an appointment booking system for Universal Credit as it considered whether “later this year” to purchase a new system to support these functions.
Under the agreement, valued at £2.5m, Booking Bug was to provide a solution to handle between 21 million and 25 million annual applications for the delayed welfare reform project. The Booking Bug contract was scheduled to end on April 30, 2018. ‘
What went wrong I wonder?
Thought I was having deja vu at first but then :
‘In May, DWP said it had awarded a 12-month contract to provide an appointment booking system for Universal Credit as it considered whether “later this year” to purchase a new system to support these functions.
Under the agreement, valued at £2.5m, Booking Bug was to provide a solution to handle between 21 million and 25 million annual applications for the delayed welfare reform project. The Booking Bug contract was scheduled to end on April 30, 2018. ‘
What went wrong I wonder?
Perhaps it was “mission creep”.
mission creep - noun
a gradual shift in objectives during the course of a military campaign, often resulting in an unplanned long-term commitment.
And then perhaps they made a strategic withdrawal (i.e., ran away).
The Booking Bug contract was scheduled to end on April 30, 2018. ‘
Presumably the winner of the new tender will start then. Perfectly standard procedure, put an interim solution in place while specifiying a longer term project.