Working in Partnership:
Research into using online public services
Sheffield Channel Shift Report
Who should read this report?
- Government departments, local authorities, social housing providers and other bodies with an interest in online service provision for their customers
- Organisations who work with those in society who could be isolated, vulnerable and have concerns about ‘Digital by Default’ plans for online public services
- Community groups, organisations or lobby groups with an interest in ensuring that disadvantaged groups in society are not left behind with ‘Digital by Default’ plans for online public services
In partnership with:
Foreword from our Chief Executive
As the Chief Executive of an organisation that promotes the benefits of technology for all, you might expect me to be a believer in the benefits that channel shift can have in opening up the internet to many more people, and of ensuring we can all access better public services.
The great thing is, following the Channel Shift project we’ve run in our home city of Sheffield, I'm even more convinced that there is so much to be gained – not just for the service users themselves, but for everyone who helps to deliver them.
When I talk about digital skills, I always say it's just all about people, and this Channel Shift project is no different. It’s all about encouraging front-line staff to see the benefits of promoting online tools to their customers, not just as it makes it easier for government but because the internet can open up doors, and make people's lives bigger.
Shifting services online can be a scary proposition, but I think this report shows that rather than getting caught up with the technology, it's important that we focus on the people involved. Technology is fantastic, but it’s so fantastic because of the huge impact it can have on the lives of individuals, so keeping people at the centre of your channel shift plans is really vital.
While the discoveries made during this channel shift project are really important, we also know it’s had a real impact on shifting transactions online, proving the real financial motive of the project. 75% of respondents to our survey said they could now access government services online, with 23% estimating they had reduced the number of calls or face-to-face visits by 10 or more per month. So not only are people choosing services that are better for them, but they are also driving a huge cost saving in terms of delivering these services, which is a huge achievement - and one that I think could and should be replicated elsewhere.
This report offers a scalable model, so you can see the lessons we've learnt carrying out this pilot project in Sheffield, and I hope this will make it easy for you to encourage people in your community to make the most of online channels. Do get in touch if you have any questions.
Helen Milner,
Chief Executive, Online Centres Foundation
Executive summary
With around 8 million UK adults still offline, and a further 14.5 million people identified as having only basic digital skills, it isn’t surprising that only 54% of UK adults have ever used a digital public service. As more and more services move online, there is a pressing need to support people with little or no digital skills - especially as they are often the highest users of these services.
The Sheffield Channel Shift project was an amazingly effective project that demonstrated how the government’s ‘digital by default’ agenda could be applied by bringing a whole city together to tackle public service delivery. This pilot was a simple, low-cost and practical exercise in channel shift, and it didn’t need any new technology.
The focus of the project was to:
●Develop a network of partners who shared common goals across the city of Sheffield
●Motivate and educate front-line staff within each partner organisation about the opportunities to transact online across a range of services in the city
●Provide a clear signposting and referral process should additional help be needed
●Provide simple support in the form of a singleprinted leaflet
Delivered by an innovative partnership of organisations as diverse as Citizens Advice, Government Digital Service, Heeley Development Trust (UK online centres’ Community Hub in Sheffield), DWP’s Pensions Service, Jobcentre Plus and Sheffield City Council, this hugely successful project saw both hard and soft outcomes realised. Almost all partners reported more highly motivated staff and customers and perhaps crucially, we have already seen increased traffic through partner websites, such as in increase of 25% to the Citizens Advice site, and 53% increase in their self-help area online.
The Sheffield Channel Shift project was able to demonstrate that there are already, right now, low-tech and low-cost actions that can be undertaken to encourage channel shift.
Our key findings for all cities wishing to learn from this project and deliver one in their own area are:
1.Identify a lead partner with the vision, contacts and resources to drive forward the project. This might be someone from a local authority, a DWP/Jobcentre office or a well-connected community group, for example
2.Have a clear plan for publicising your project regularly throughout its duration.
3.Focus your effort on customer-facing staff. They are the public face of your project and, without involving them and ensuring they are fully aware of the aims of your project and methods of signposting, you are unlikely to succeed. Empowering them with lots of information about the signposting possibilities means that your customers will be offered assistance that is fit for purpose.
4.Listen and adapt. Your plans may not reap the rewards you initially anticipated, or you may find a hidden gem that should be replicated wider. Ensure you adapt to what you learn on a daily basis to ensure success.
5.Embrace different approaches but one goal. Each partner has different strengths and different ways of doing things. Embrace these different approaches, but remain true to the central goal you have set for your project.
6.Identify your advocates. Many of your staff will be more enthusiastic than others to get involved. Allowing these people the space to shine within the project will enhance your likelihood of success.
7.Don’t delay! Large scale partnerships can often be difficult to manage, leading to a lack of momentum and drive. Agree a timetable and stick to it. With the right foundations, your partnership project will be able to deliver results even though some individual aspects of your plan may be delayed. The goodwill of your partners and customer-facing staff will carry you through as long as they are well informed and empowered. It doesn’t matter whether an organisation is starting from scratch or has already begun promotion of online services, a partnership model would provide benefits of equal importance, giving either a strong starting point for all or a re-energiser or booster to work already undertaken.
8.Access to IT should not be a barrier for organisations working towards channel shift. There are many grass roots organisations that provide free or low-cost access training and access to the internet such as the UK online centres network as well as organisations that provide low-cost refurbished computers to help someone make their first steps online.
We have been privileged to have this fantastic opportunity to work with all of the partners involved to raise awareness of the services available. The project has been a huge success - providing a catalyst for developing a city-wide strategy and creating strong local partnerships that will outlast the project itself.
Due to the generous support of all the partners, the project has produced a scalable, sustainable, community-based infrastructure to support and drive channel shift, transforming the way in which individuals and communities engage with online government services now and in the future.
1 Background
Digital by Default
The government is clear that channel shift is a priority:
“To make this happen, we need to encourage more people to go online and hence be able to access information and services. In addition to the many benefits to people themselves – including making connections with other people, consumer savings, increased employability, and access to public services – this will also help us to drive down the cost of delivering public services.”
David Cameron, Letter of Appointment to Martha Lane Fox, 18 June 2010.
In November 2010, UK Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox, published her review of Directgov which argued for a channel shift towards public services being delivered ‘digitally by default.’ In response the Government Digital Service (GDS) was established with the core purpose of ensuring that the Government offers world-class digital products to meet people’s needs.
This principle is now being adopted across Government. However, a key consideration is how to ensure those without digital skills are not disadvantaged. Currently, around 8 million UK adults are still offline, and these people are often the heaviest users of public services. A further 14.5 million people are classified as having basic digital skills. Take-up amongst the online population is uneven, with only 54% of UK adults having ever used a digital public service.
Therefore, customer engagement strategies for digital services need to consider three main groups:
1.Those who can’t use digital public services because of temporary or permanent barriers such as severe physical or learning disabilities, or literacy and language issues.
2.Those who coulduse digital public services, but may need to build their digital skills and confidence.
3.Those who shoulduse digital public services, who are already online and have digital skills and confidence.
UK online centres
UK online centres is the organisation responsible for getting one million more people online and using online public services between April 2010 and March 2013, delivering estimated cost savings to the government of £157 million.
There are 3,800 UK online centres across England providing people with help and support to develop digital skills. UK online centres are located in 84% of England’s most deprived communities and have expertise in supporting those who could use digital public services but need support to develop digital skills and confidence.
Evaluation shows that 68% of the 500,000 people UK online centres help to get online each year go on to use digital public services. Furthermore, 43% of centre visitors report a shift of 3.8 government contacts per month from face-to-face or telephone to digital.
Given the support that already exists from our 3,800 centres, UK online centres maintains that digital exclusion and lack of digital skills should not be a reason to delay channel shift but that adequate support and community partnerships are fundamental.
No single organisation has the capacity or capability to deliver the full spectrum of support that these different customers need to access all types of online government information and services, and so partnership and collaboration is key.Technological advancements towards the ‘digital by default’ vision need to be underpinned by building the digital skills of local communities, and developing a strong local partner network that can support the implementation of these new services.
2 Sheffield Channel Shift Project
As leaders in digital skills and community impact, UK online centres had a simple vision that by encouraging and helping partners within a community to work more closely together with the common goal of moving customers to online channels, collectively more could be achieved.
The innovative Sheffield Channel Shift project, led by UK online centres, ran from September 2011 to April 2012. It was a unique city-wide project that encouraged, inspired and mentored organisations to embrace a collaborative approach to digital by default service delivery, as well as supporting individuals to use online services. The project strived to produce a scalable, sustainable, community-based infrastructure to support and drive channel shift, transforming the way in which individuals and communities engage with online government services now and in the future.
Sheffield was selected as the host for this project as a result of the wider range of partners with the desire to engage in this unique activity. Sheffield Channel Shift partners included:
●Citizens Advice and CLASSY consortium (Community Legal Advice Service South Yorkshire)
●DWP /The Pensions Service
●DWP/ Jobcentre Plus
●Government Digital Service
●Heeley Development Trust (UK online centres’ Community Hub in Sheffield)
●Sheffield City Council
●UK online centres
The Sheffield Channel Shift project built on the success of the previous Go ON Sheffield campaigns (February 2010 and October 2011) whilst providing a new focus by placing channel shift and staff at the heart of the project with less impetus on campaigning and targeting of the offline population. This different approach has proven to be a powerful companion for the legacy of the previous Go ON Sheffield campaigns.
3 Methodology
The Sheffield Channel Shift project aimed to facilitate partnerships, increasing awareness of online services and referrals, whilst building a sustainable city-wide network. To achieve this, the Sheffield Channel Shift Project was based on three guiding principles.
1. Partnership and collaboration
Across Sheffield a strong infrastructure exists through Post Offices, Citizens Advice Bureaux and UK online centres, as well as the local authority. However, partnership and collaboration on the ground amongst these organisations was fragmented as partners were not aware of the full spectrum of support and online services available to customers. Furthermore, when referrals and collaboration did take place, they were not focussed on shifting transactions or contacts online. From the outset, all organisations on the project team acknowledged that the various partner services were useful and relevant to their customers, and that strengthening relationships and increasing referrals was of mutual benefit to partners and in the best interest of customers.
2. Identifying online services and information
The project aimed to identify key online services and information, increasing knowledge amongst partner organisations - and their staff - of the local availability of online services and the benefits to the customer of using them. The project team identified key online services and information (see Appendix A) to be highlighted to partner organisations, staff and customers for the duration of the project. This information was collated and included on a customer information leaflet (see Appendix B).
With a few exceptions, most partner organisations did not have end-to-end online services. However, they all shared a desire to promote online services where relevant, encouraging people to find information and access services online rather than by telephone or face-to-face channels, freeing these channels for those customers who may be more in need of supported services. Partners agreed by taking part in the Channel Shift project and focusing on the online services identified, they were starting the process of laying partnership foundations early, inspiring culture change and raising awareness amongst their staff and customers.
3. Channel shift and support for customers
The project aimed to identify local support for customers in developing digital skills to enable them to access online services and information. One of the key barriers highlighted was the lack of awareness of where to signpost customers who needed help and support to develop digital skills. Once staff had made a customer aware of an online service or piece of information it was essential that if that customer did not have the skills required to access that service - falling into the ‘coulds’ or ‘can’ts’ customer categories - they could be signposted to places to find help and support.
All partners agreed that building and establishing more robust referral partnerships with the UK online centres and library networks across Sheffield was a key component to aiding channel shift that should be developed throughout the project. To measure customer engagement with channel shift during the project, UK online centres created an online customer survey for customers to complete once they had received help to develop their digital skills.
4 Project phases
The Sheffield Channel Shift Project delivery included four phases as outlined below.
●Phase 1 - Planning (September 2011 to November 2011)
●Phase 2 - Preparation and launch (December 2011 to January 2012)
●Phase 3 - Project delivery(03 January 2011 to 31 March 2012)
●Phase 4 - Evaluation (April to May 2012)
See Appendix C for the project plan activity summary.
5 Resources
The Sheffield Channel Shift project achieved significant outcomes with minimal expenditure. The project costs were attributed to UK online centres with partner organisations providing their time, expertise and resources in-kind.
The only significant cost incurred was the time and focus of a dedicated Project Manager provided by UK online centres. Due to the wide range of organisations involved this role was essential in driving and championing the project and coordinating the partners, all of whom had different priorities, demands and restrictions. Without this pivotal role from the outset, the project would have failed to deliver. It is therefore crucial that when implementing the framework outlined in this report, resource must be allocated for a dedicated manager to drive and coordinate the project. Minimal additional cost was incurred for the production of the Customer Information Leaflet (see appendix B), meeting room hire and the online survey (see Appendix E).