Ministers for the previous government said last year that the department was keen to expand outgoing written comms, and these plans are still in effect, the new administration has indicated

The Department for Work and Pensions’ plans to make greater use of email in communicating with citizens are “being progressed”.

A little over a year ago, ministers indicated that the department wished to explore the possibilities of increased use of email in its engagement with service users – beyond its existing uses in cases where it is necessary in order to meet a citizen’s accessibility requirements.

Some 14 months on – and after a change of government – the DWP’s first ever dedicated minister for transformation, Andrew Western, reiterated that the organisation continues efforts to modernise how it communicates with the public, including an intent to send more emails.

He said: “Developing secure digital channels for both the customer and the department is a key foundation of the work to modernise its services and using email as an outbound channel to communicate with customers is being progressed, the department is developing more secure and effective inbound digital channels for customers to use.”

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Western – whose comments were made in response to a written parliamentary question from fellow Labour MP Alex Sobel, who asked what the DWP is doing “to ensure that written responses are available [to service users] upon request” – stressed that the department is committed to maintaining a range of options.

“Customers can contact DWP by telephone or post, face to face and via digital channels,” he said. “DWP continues to develop services that are easy to find and navigate, ensuring that the people feel confident and protected when they are relying on us.”

All these various means of contact will be in scope of the DWP’s aims to upgrade its communication offering for citizens, according to the transformation minister.

“The department is modernising to allow customers to interact with the department across multiple channels and in a way that suits them, enabling customers to self-serve online, while retaining non-digital channels for those that need them, avoiding digital exclusion and ensuring that everyone gets the level of support they need,” he added. “Of course, if a customer cannot access digital services and specifically requests a written response, the department will provide this.”