DWP delays hold up Tell Us Once service

The Tell Us Once service was meant to have gone live in Staffordshire in June but difficulties have been experienced by contractors appointed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to roll out the IT system underpinning the service nationally.

The contractors have had problems gearing up the system to cope with anticipated traffic volumes. However, major progress has been made in recent weeks, and it is possible that Staffordshire will now go live in mid to late October as part the national implementation timetable. If Staffordshire cannot start operating the service by then, it may be necessary to delay the launch until next spring because of the operational problems that could arise if implementation coincides with the busiest time of year for registrars recording deaths.

Tell Us Once will vastly improve the way important information is shared between public services in Staffordshire and with some other public sector service providers. The service will eventually allow residents to contact their council or local registrar just once to report births, marriages, deaths or change of address.

Currently, if you lose someone close to you, you have to inform the registrar, then several other separate council departments - such as council tax, housing benefits and the electoral roll. Under the new Tell Us Once service, when someone dies, residents will only have to inform the registrar, who, with permission, will then pass the right information to the relevant council departments and other public sector service providers, such as the DWP, the Identity and Passport Service and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

All 10 councils in Staffordshire will use the IT system being rolled out by the DWP.

At first, residents will be able to Tell Us Once about deaths via the registrar.  But the service will expand to allow residents to contact their council online, over the 'phone and face-to-face to report other important changes in circumstance.