latest on the eBenefits National Project ...

'The e-Benefits pilot scheme, launched in Rotherham this summer, has had an immediate impact on the quality of service experienced by citizens.

Instead of filling in a Housing Benefit form numbering 25 plus pages, the system confines the process to a maximum of just six pages by selecting only further relevant or appropriate questions based on the client's answers during the process.

The system then electronically assesses the customer's potential entitlement not only to local authority benefits but to the full 60 plus welfare benefits.'

Once completed, the electronic claim forms are signed by the claimant using a digital pen and then automatically sent to the council's back-office systems (SX3 and Comino DIP), thus saving paper and handling time.