The Department for Work and Pensions is to undertake a two-year programme of work to “transform the digital journey” of citizens as they move towards and into retirement age.
The DWP wishes to revamp online services related to “pre-retirement, state pension, pension credit, bereavement and care”.
The department is looking to design new services and augment existing offerings with the aim of helping citizens plan for retirement and understand and be able to claim the pension and other benefits to which they are entitled. The programme of work will also address services and support for those who have been recently bereaved.
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“The goal in retirement, bereavement and care (RBC) services is to transform the customer experience of government, providing easy access to RBC services, with clear information, linking new and existing systems to allow more consistent and responsive provision of services over the web and better customer outcomes,” the DWP said. “Each service development has its own user-driven requirements which will enhance user experience and compliance whilst striving towards the DWP digital goals.”
Several services to be worked on are already in live phase, this includes the Plan Your Retirement, Support for Bereaved and Support for Care services. The Get Your State Pension, Manage Your Pension Credit, and Get Your Seasonal Payments services, meanwhile, are all currently in beta stage.
The overall transformation project is expected to take two years. The DWP is looking to appoint a supplier to deliver an “initial 12-month statement of work”. This deal is expected to be worth £830,000 – a figure that will be replicated if the contract is extended for an additional year.
The department is looking for an external firm to provide teams digital specialist teams made up of user researchers, designers, developers, analysts, and product owners. This will include a mix of junior and senior personnel.
“There are currently a number of teams working on these services predominantly delivering using agile methodology, with experience and requirements to deliver to waterfall methods when required,” the department said. “The teams have detailed knowledge and experience in the retirement, bereavement and care arenas. The successful supplier team will work with these existing capabilities [who are] from other suppliers as well as DWP staff. A part of the role of the supplier will be to assist DWP in growing its own capability and we will expect a level of support for our staff with a view to contributing and sharing knowledge.”
Bids for the project are open until 25 March, with work scheduled to commence about a month thereafter.