Tell Us Once!

The county's 10 local authorities are working together on a project that will enable residents to make just one telephone call or one visit to a council office when they need to report that something major has changed in their life - be it a birth, death, marriage or change of address.

Until now, citizens have often had to repeat the same information over and again, sometimes at traumatic times in their life.

But a new service starting next month (June) means that, when someone dies, their next of kin will have to notify just one organisation that will then tell everyone else who needs to know.

And, once it is well established, the Tell Us Once service will be expanded to include other changes in circumstance.

The service is underpinned by an IT system being rolled out nationally by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). At first, citizens will access the new service face to face or over the 'phone. However, further work by the DWP will enable residents to obtain the service online at some stage next year.

The system will make it easy for customer service advisors and registrars to ask the right questions and then share the resulting information - at the flick of a switch - with everyone else who needs to know.

Here in Staffordshire, the system implementation forms part of a wider Life Events project being run by the partnership to redesign the way in which change-of-circumstance information is captured and shared.

One of the project's aims is to promote Tell Us Once widely, both internally and publicly, so that everyone will know what happens when a life event is reported.

Already, 30,000 leaflets have been printed for customers to pick up from public buildings including their local council office, GP surgery and hospital. The leaflet will also be included in bereavement packs given by Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council as registration authorities to the person reporting the death.

Funeral directors countywide will get the leaflet and a letter of introduction while a special DVD explaining Tell Us Once is to be screened in council reception areas.