Department awards contract for tech supplier to support ongoing ‘modernisation’ work for service that currently requires thousands of claimants to print and post paper forms in order to access benefits
The Department for Work and Pensions is spending upwards of £5m on a project to digitise the manual processes parents are currently required to follow in claiming Maternity Allowance, PublicTechnology can reveal.
At the start of this month, the department entered into an initial two-year contract with Newcastle-headquartered software and digital services specialist Opencast. The agreement, which could be worth in excess of £5m, covers the “provision of digital specialists” for the DWP’s “Maternity Allowance Modernisation Project”, according to newly published commercial documents.
The additional personnel provided by the supplier will be expected to support the “delivery of specific digital outcomes and to supplement our own internal capability to ensure provision of the current live services and to develop new a Maternity Allowance digital solution”.
Maternity Allowance is a government-issued benefit available to those taking time off after having a baby who are have recently stopped working, are self-employed – or are otherwise unable to receive statutory maternity pay. Claimants can receive payments of up to £184.03 each week.
There is currently no online process for applying. Those submitting a claim are rather required to download a form from GOV.UK or ask it to be sent to them, before filling it in – either digitally or manually – and then posting a completed paper version to the DWP.
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PublicTechnology contacted the department asking for more information on the digitisation programme – such as timelines, costs, and the intended impact of creating an online service. The DWP advised that is currently unable to comment on the programme but may provide details at some point in the future.
The department’s most recently compiled set of quarterly data reveals that there were 41,440 active claims for Maternity Allowance as of November 2023. A total of £7-8m is paid out each week via the benefit – equating to around £400m a year.
Claim submissions must include details of the applicant’s employment in the 66 weeks before their baby is due, as well as personal and financial information. Applications can be made from the 26th week of pregnancy, and payments – which last for up to 39 weeks – can begin at any point from the 11th week before the baby up until the day after birth.
The DWP’s deal with Opencast includes the option of a six-month extension and will be worth up to £5.4m, once VAT is included. During the first 12 months of the engagement the DWP expects to spend £2.1m.
