Inclusion reviews benefit delivery system problems

Inclusion researchers have produced a report recently published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on frontline benefits delivery: Delivering benefits, tax credits and employment services: Problems for disadvantaged users and potential solutions.

Key areas highlighted are the system’s complexity, lower than anticipated take-up rates, poorly developed ICT systems, weak coordination of services, and reduced options for face-to-face contact.
This review looks at recent evidence on both problems with service delivery and potential solutions.
The report:

• describes briefly the new systems;
• presents findings from a literature review and from qualitative research, identifying service delivery problems and users’ views of what they want from the system;
• proposes some future developments in the delivery of the welfare system; and
• considers key themes where further research is needed.