department of social and family affairs annual report 2006 - Welfare.ie

More documents

Recommendations

Info

enable the Garda and the Courts Service to exchange a range of documents is due to go live in 2007. > Life events publication service Agencies subscribe to this service to receive regular updates (daily if required) of life events (births, deaths and marriages) registered with the General Register Office. Where possible, life event notices are validated by DFSA and contain PSI elements such as Personal Public Services Number. Timely notification of deaths allows more efficient updating of payment arrangements with consequent savings in programme funds in the areas concerned. It also means that databases can be kept up to date e.g. death notices are distributed to local authorities so that they can keep the electoral register up to date. > Identity management and access control services This service allows identities to be checked online for other public service agencies. It relies on the DSFA Public Service Identity (PSI) service for online registration of users. Since May 2006, the Reach identity service authenticates the identity of users of the new Revenue Online PAYE ‘self-service’ channel. Up to the end of 2006, almost 60,000 PAYE taxpayers had registered with reachservices and are managing their PAYE accounts online. A fully featured reachservices Help Desk has been set up to assist and support users requesting help on the telephone and e-mail channels. The online PAYE service saves Revenue costs associated with telephone, mail or face-to-face contact and provides the customer with a more convenient choice. The identity service is now available to be extended to other agencies. > OBJECTIVE 11 Ensure that customers have access to services through a choice of service delivery channels and continue development of the service delivery modernisation plan for delivery of social welfare services. > Electronic payments to customers The Department has extended the range of payment options in recent years. Customers have a wide choice of electronic payment methods, i.e., Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT), by which payment is made directly to the customer’s bank account, or by Electronic Information Transfer (EIT) which is made to a post office designated by the customer. Substantial progress was made in 2006 to increase the use of electronic methods of payment for customers, as follows: • All Social Welfare schemes now have an EFT option; • Improvements to the design of claim forms facilitate people wishing to opt for electronic payment options continued in 2006 • The introduction of the EFT payment option to Disablement Benefit customers from February 2006. • The inclusion of an advice slip with Disability Benefit cheques in 2006 informing recipients of the direct payment options. • 90% of Family Income Supplement (FIS) customers were paid by EFT by the end of 2006 • 57% of families in receipt of Early Childcare Supplement (ECS) are paid by means of EFT and the balance are paid by EIT; • One Parent Family Payment to customers were moved progressively from Personalised Payable Order Book (PPO) to payment by EIT at post offices throughout 2006 • Arrangements for customers to be paid through their credit unions were concluded in September 2006 • By the end of 2006, 39 % of weekly /monthly payments to customers were being made by EFT, 52% are paid through An Post including over 9% by EIT. annual report 2006 45
goal 4: coverage, access and entitlement > OBJECTIVE 12 Modernise and improve the delivery of services to the Department’s customers through the development and implementation of agile ICT systems and organisational change programmes. > Service Delivery Modernisation Programme (SDM) The Service Delivery Modernisation programme is a multi – annual programme of work involving the introduction of new technology and the replacement of legacy computer systems. It also involves the redesign of back office systems, business processes, procedures and work practices and the introduction of new organisational structures. The programme which comprises business, organisation and technical streams is designed to be implemented in self contained phases. Each phase delivers key business benefits, extends the business object model chosen by the Department and strengthens and enhances the underlying technical architecture. The key business objectives of the programme are to provide- • a high quality, proactive personalised service to customers • delivery of services in a more efficient, flexible and integrated way • support for new work management practices and procedures • support for the recording of overpayments and debt recovery • delivery of the eGovernment strategy Each phase of the programme has two main strands - • Technical - development and refinement of the IT infrastructure to provide the foundation for a radically improved and modernised system of service delivery for all social welfare schemes. • Business Re-Organisation - a parallel programme of organisational change to take advantage of the new technology and information and communication technology (ICT) systems and to deliver efficiencies in business processes and maximize customer service. The first phase of SDM, which focused on the Child Benefit scheme, was successfully implemented in November 2002. In 2006 the SDM programme has expanded to encompass Retirement Pension, Old Age Contributory Pension (renamed State Pension (Transition) and State Pension (Contributory) in 2006), Free Travel, Bereavement Grant and Overpayment and Debt management. The programme is being implemented on an incremental basis and will extend to Household Benefits and will provide for the migration of Child Benefit to the new SDM architecture in early 2007. The programme also supported the introduction, in a very short time-span, of the Early Childcare Supplement (ECS). This was successfully implemented in August 2006 when over 270,000 ECS payments were made for the first time. Bereavement Grant was implemented on the SDM system in the Sligo and Longford offices in October 2006 while the Overpayments and Debt Management (ODM) system was implemented in November 2006. A number of significant scheme changes were also implemented on the SDM system in 2006, arising from the implementation of the 2006 Social Welfare Act provisions. > OBJECTIVE 13 Ensure access at a local level to a wider range of services and more effective collaboration with other agencies in the delivery of those services. > One Parent Family Payment (OPFP) The programme to devolve OPFP claim processing to local offices continued in 2006. By the end of the year 39 local offices and their associated branch offices were processing new OPFP claims locally. The OPFP claims processed locally account for approximately 90% of the total weekly intake of new OPFP claims nationwide. 46
Page 1 and 2: department of social and family aff
Page 3 and 4: annual report 2006 0
Page 5 and 6: Introduction from the Secretary-Gen
Page 7 and 8: the department - its business and o
Page 9 and 10: Statutory Agencies There are five o
Page 11 and 12: 2006 in review 2006 - year in revie
Page 13 and 14: - to introduce a Personal Advocacy
Page 15 and 16: 2006 - year in review 14
Page 17 and 18: the department’s goals > Goal 1:
Page 19 and 20: goal 1: retired and older people To
Page 21 and 22: Government is committed to respondi
Page 23 and 24: goal 1: retired and older people 22
Page 25 and 26: goal 2: people of working age To pr
Page 27 and 28: As part of Budget 2006, periods spe
Page 29 and 30: This project has been developed and
Page 31 and 32: Initiatives introduced in 2006 unde
Page 33 and 34: Appendix to Chapter 5 > Development
Page 35 and 36: Goal 2: people of working age 34
Page 37 and 38: Goal 3: children To ensure the well
Page 39 and 40: Ending Child Poverty Special Initia
Page 41 and 42: goal 4: coverage, access and entitl
Page 45: OBJECTIVE 7 Provide a satisfactory
Page 49 and 50: f) Debt Recovery Considerable effor
Page 53 and 54: goal 5: poverty, social inclusion a
Page 59 and 60: • An emphasis on practical, budg
Page 63 and 64: goal 6: the department and its staf
Page 67 and 68: formal training courses, SDU contin
Page 69 and 70: Governance and Management of Resour
Page 73 and 74: improvement programme. This include
Page 75 and 76: submissions from representative gro
Page 77 and 78: appendices Appendix 1: Status Repor
Page 79 and 80: Appendix 2: Summary Of DSFA Budget
Page 81 and 82: Appendix 2: Summary of DSFA Budget
Page 83 and 84: Appendix 2: Summary of DSFA Budget
Page 85 and 86: Appendix 3: Expenditure on Social W
Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX 4: LEGISLATION ENACTED IN
Page 89 and 90: S.I. 169 of 2006 SOCIAL WELFARE LAW
Page 91 and 92: appendices These Regulations retain
Page 93 and 94: appendices for the purposes of impl
Page 95 and 96: S.I. No. 497 of 2006 SOCIAL WELFARE
Page 97 and 98:
Regulations currently provide that
Page 99 and 100:
(b) refrain from behaviour which is
Page 101 and 102:
Improving our telephone answering s
Page 103 and 104:
appendices APPENDIX 6: PUBLIC PROCU
Page 105 and 106:
Appendix 7: Scheme Name Changes In
Page 107 and 108:
appendices 106
Page 109 and 110:
Appendix 10: Ministers In Charge Of
show all

department of social and family affairs annual report 2006 - Welfare.ie

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?