Having used Academy Revenues and Benefits since the early nineties, Eastleigh Borough Council is one of Academy’s most established customers. During that time the Council has not stood still and has made numerous improvements to its Revenues and Benefits operation, including many that have stemmed from introducing new Academy modules.
Background
Eastleigh is located within Hampshire in the South of England; it serves a population of 177,000. The Benefits department has a caseload of 6,300 and processes around 3,500 new claims per year.
The challenge
Loraine Radford, Head of Revenues and Benefits at Eastleigh Borough Council comments: “We were initially a little unsure about joining the pilot but it turned out to be the best thing we ever did.”
Before the introduction of Academy QA, the process for quality checking was completely manual and very dependent on staff following the Council’s process.
The solution
Eastleigh implemented the Academy QA module during the summer of 2006 and saw some dramatic improvements.
The results
Academy QA has transformed the volume of assessments being checked. Prior to implementing Academy QA, the Council was checking just 4% of assessments - the minimum amount stipulated by the Department of Work and Pensions. It is now checking 60% of assessments and has also become more targeted in its approach.
View the full Eastleigh Borough Council case study