• Government will need to innovate if it is to deliver effective and affordable public services. For DWP, innovation will be vital if it is to meet the needs of its customers while protecting taxpayers’ money
  • DWP has many of the key elements for an effective approach to innovation and is innovating in valuable ways, with examples showing benefits for customers and staff
  • NAO recommends that DWP build on these foundations by giving staff greater confidence to innovate within clear guardrails and sharing lessons more consistently across the department

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is experimenting in valuable ways to improve frontline services and staff productivity and has many of the building blocks needed to innovate effectively, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report published today (Wednesday 21 October).1

DWP is prioritising innovation in order to improve services, boost productivity and deliver better value for taxpayers. The NAO’s work included examining small-scale innovations within the department, designed to develop and test new ideas, technologies or ways of working.

The six examples highlight good practice and valuable lessons that DWP can build on. The report finds that the department has many of the building blocks needed to innovate effectively.

For example, DWP has developed a machine-learning model to identify cases where child maintenance payments may be at risk of breaking down, helping caseworkers intervene earlier to protect the payments families rely on. DWP estimates that the project has prevented an additional 715 cases a month from moving into arrears and saved staff time equivalent to 49 full-time employees. DWP is also trialling whether assigning work coaches to particular economic sectors can provide claimants with more tailored employment support.

The public spending watchdog found that DWP has strong foundations for innovation: it tailors its approach to risk and tests and refines ideas before rolling them out more widely.

However, DWP faces constraints when innovating, as it cannot compromise on paying benefits on time to the millions of people who rely on its service and protecting the large volumes of sensitive personal data it holds.

Even within these parameters, DWP staff have an important role to play in suggesting improvements to services. The NAO recommends that DWP strengthen its approach by providing clearer and more practical guidance to staff and managers on its risk appetite for innovation and the boundaries within which innovation can take place.

DWP should also share and apply lessons from its innovation activity more consistently across the department, including from innovations that were not taken forward. This would help teams avoid repeating mistakes or duplicating work.

"Innovation will help DWP improve its service to its customers and protect taxpayers’ money. It is developing an effective approach to this with some tangible results.

"It should now build on these foundations by giving staff the confidence to test new ideas safely and ensure that lessons and good practice are shared consistently across the department.”

Gareth Davies, head of NAO

Read the full report

DWP’s approach to innovation

Notes for editors

  1. This report forms part of the NAO’s wider scrutiny of DWP, including:
  2. The report looked at six examples of DWP innovation:
    • Benefits administration programme – The programme is exploring how the benefits system might look were it designed from scratch, to provide a better service for customers and make efficiency savings.
    • Carer’s Allowance texting pilots – DWP tested whether text messages would prompt Carer’s Allowance claimants to report changes of circumstances, with the aim of reducing overpayments and debt.
    • Child Maintenance Service predictive analytics model – This model predicts the probability of payment breakdown in child maintenance cases. DWP caseworkers use this information to identify cases where they should intervene, with the aim of keeping money flowing to families.
    • Generative AI in Learning (GAIL) tool – DWP developed GAIL to reduce the significant time involved in developing engaging training material for its staff.
    • Jobcentre sector segmentation trials – These trials aim to improve customer experience and job search outcomes by assigning DWP work coaches to specific economic sectors, so they can provide more tailored support to Universal Credit claimants.
    • Whitemail Insights and Vulnerability Scanner – DWP defines whitemail as any post from customers that is not an administrative form. This tool scans around 25,000 documents each day and its functions include identifying potentially vulnerable customers, allowing staff to determine more quickly what action to take.