Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Department acknowledges limits to full transformation delivery before 2029 service contracts.
Recommendation
We asked the Department how it would manage the delivery of the Programme and about the testing it was undertaking of the new service. We also asked, if the testing was not sufficient to provide the data it needed, whether it would continue with roll-out of the new service or delay it. The Department recognised it may not be able to deliver all the transformation it wants to before letting the contracts to deliver the service from 2029. It said that it “was being very clear within the Programme on what needs to be ready, what quality needs to be like, what sort of service we are providing … and we will not continue 6 Qq 1, 25, 45 7 Q 1 8 Q 13 9 Qq 33, 45, 76; C&AG’s Report, para 2.15 10 Q 5, C&AG’s Report, paras 2.15–2.16 11 Q 45; Department for Work & Pensions, Health Transformation Programme evaluation strategy, 25 May 2023 Revising health assessments for disability benefits 11 to expand the service unless it is safe to do so and meets our exit criteria”.12 It explained that it will only let the new contracts based on what it is confident that it can deliver, even if that meant that those contracts would include less of the transformational benefits it currently envisaged from the new service. It told us that the rate at which it rolled out the Programme would be determined by how successfully it made progress.13
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation, committing to update and publish the HTP business case by Spring 2024, publish quarterly management information, evolve reporting against KPIs, evaluate services through claimant research, and explore publishing evaluation findings to ensure safe and successful progress.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2024 The Department for Work and Pensions (the department) is updating the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) business case, based on the approved Programme scope at November 2023. This business case is based on delivery of the HTP in line with the current programme plan, as well as the costs and benefits of the transformed Personal Independence Payments (PIP) end-to-end journey, including Apply for PIP. The Programme’s benefits, as outlined in the business case, will be tracked by the department using a combination of administrative data analysis, and both qualitative and quantitative research, as set out in the Programme’s Evaluation Strategy (published in May 2023). The department will publish a summary of the business case following the receipt of the necessary internal and cross-government clearances, which the department expects to receive by Spring 2024. The department will also publish a summary of its Accounting Officer Assessment alongside this. The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. The government agrees with the premise of transparency; the department will publish information once available and sufficiently robust. The Programme is in its early stages and is currently creating the right environment to transform services. As set out in the HTP Evaluation Strategy (May 2023), the department will refine its performance measurement approach as the Programme matures. This will include defining and tracking outcome indicators incorporating benefits to claimants. In line with Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) Code of Practice for Statistics, the department has started to publish management information (MI) and will continue to develop plans for publishing metrics. On 19 December 2023, the department published the first in a new series of HTP MI. Publication of this MI will continue quarterly in line with the PIP Official Statistics release schedule. As the Programme and underlying data systems mature, the department will evolve this publication to report against the nine key performance indicators (KPIs) and underlying performance metrics. The department will consider the value of publishing annual progress reports in addition to these quarterly statistics. As set out in the HTP Evaluation Strategy, the department is evaluating services as they develop and iterate. This includes conducting research with claimants to understand their experiences of new services. This approach ensures that scaling of these services occurs safely and that services can iterate accordingly. The department will explore publication of evaluation findings, in accordance with Government Social Research protocols, when appropriate to do so.