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Customer management

Central government provides many services directly to large numbers of customers, eg benefit payments. Government needs to make sure that its standards of service are good, especially where customers have no choice - such as paying taxes. Customers need convenient, reliable and flexible services; rapid responses to their queries; and the belief that they are being kept fully and accurately informed. To meet these needs, government has to know when customers' circumstances have changed, it must be able to measure how well it's meeting customers' expectations, and it needs processes that support good customer service.

Departments also have to be sure that taxpayers are getting value for money from services, that they have the funding to keep up the level of services, and that they understand and manage new risks. There are many lessons to be learnt from the implementation of recent major programmes, such as Universal Credit and the Work Programme. Digital service delivery, customer protection, and fraud and error management are further key aspects of customer management.

Key NAO publications:

The quality of service for personal taxpayers (May 2016)
Welfare reform - lessons learned (May 2015)

Asylum accommodation and support

This report examines the government’s replacement of the COMPASS contracts for accommodation and support for asylum seekers.

Sector(s): Borders and immigration, Children and families, Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Performance Improvement area(s): Accountability in local service delivery, Customer management, Local service delivery, Operational and programme delivery, Oversight of service delivery, Performance measurement

Department(s): Home Office

Published:
3 Jul 2020

The BBC’s understanding of its audiences and users

The report examines whether to inform decisions across the BBC, the Corporation efficiently, effectively and economically understands how people use and respond to the full range of its services.

Sector(s): Arts, media and sport

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Digital service delivery

Department(s): Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport

Published:
6 Dec 2017

Vulnerable consumers in regulated industries

Regulators and government need to work together better to ensure that vulnerable consumers get the support they need.

Sector(s): Regulation, consumers and competition

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Regulation, User choice and consumer protection

Department(s): Ofgem, Ofqual, Ofsted

Published:
31 Mar 2017

The quality of service for personal taxpayers

HMRC aimed to move more customers online thereby reducing staff costs but significant numbers of staff were let go before technical improvements were completed leading to a collapse in service quality in 2015. Services have since improved.

Sector(s): Tax

Performance Improvement area(s): Cost reduction and affordability, Customer management, Digital service delivery, Transforming public services

Department(s): HM Revenue and Customs

Published:
25 May 2016

Managing business operations– what government needs to get right

We present here what we’ve been learning about the problems government faces in managing its business operations, the actions taken to address them, and our analysis of what government needs to focus on to get this right.

Sector(s): Government, efficiency and transparency

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Operations and process management

Published:
30 Sep 2015

Welfare reform – lessons learned

It is important that the DWP use the hard lessons it learned from implementing its recent programme of welfare reforms to improve how it manages change and anticipates risk.

Sector(s): Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Managing major projects, Transforming public services

Department(s): Department for Work and Pensions

Published:
29 May 2015

Increasing the effectiveness of tax collection: a stocktake of progress since 2010

HMRC has made good progress towards maximising revenue and making cost savings but also needs to do much more to improve its customer service.

Sector(s): Central Finance and Treasury

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Digital service delivery, Operations and process management

Department(s): HM Revenue and Customs

Published:
6 Feb 2015

Universal Credit: progress update

The DWP has reset Universal Credit on a sounder basis but at significant cost, by extending the time for implementation and choosing a more expensive approach.

Sector(s): Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Digital service delivery, Managing major projects, Transforming public services

Department(s): Department for Work and Pensions

Published:
26 Nov 2014

The effective management of tax reliefs

HM Treasury and HMRC do not keep track of tax reliefs intended to change behaviour, or adequately report to Parliament on whether tax reliefs work as expected.

Sector(s): Tax

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management, Performance measurement

Department(s): HM Revenue and Customs, HM Treasury

Published:
21 Nov 2014

The Work Programme

After a poor start, the performance of the Work Programme is at similar levels to previous programmes but is less than original forecast. The Department has struggled to improve outcomes for harder-to-help groups. The Programme has the potential to offer value for money if it can achieve the higher rates of performance the Department now expects.

Sector(s): Welfare, Pensions and Employment

Performance Improvement area(s): Customer management

Department(s): Department for Work and Pensions

Published:
2 Jul 2014