A lot of services across HMCTS (as with most Government departments) are going online, through large scale digital transformation projects. This saves organisations money but also makes the process much more efficient for the user (to save them doing it on paper for instance). Whether it’s health, tax, immigration, welfare or legal services, almost everything worldwide is now moving online.

However, there are many people who are still digitally excluded and won’t want to use that service once it moves online, or aren’t able to (income, skills, equipment, internet access, etc).

Thus, Government is putting in place services called Assisted Digital / Digital Support, to help those users access the system. As part of HMCTS’ reform programme many services are now moving their forms online (apply for probate, apply for a divorce, etc). We Are Digital are working in partnership with HMCTS , via a managed service contract to run Digital Support for users for these services, as they move online.

HMCTS’ services are going online one by one, through a managed timeline. We are asking centres to provide support to those who need digital help in filling out forms for HMCTS in the order they are released.

These include services such as:

- Make a plea for an offence (Single Justice Service)

- Appeal a benefit decision (Social Security and Child Support)

Which will go online at the end of January.

The below are the services going online at a later date:

- Apply for probate

- Apply for a divorce

- Make a money claim (Online Civil Money Claims )

- Get help paying court and tribunal fees (Help With Fees)

A person will be eligible for support if they do not have the confidence or capability to fill out online forms themselves. The individual may not have a device to complete the form online, or they may not understand how to use the device to fill out forms. They may not have a good or stable internet connection, or family or friends around that can help them. They may also be confused at where to start, how and where to search to find the right form, and where to go for help with the form (online or offline), which is very common.

To be eligible for Digital Support, users must be assessed as :

1) Digitally Excluded (DE) - This is where someone cannot, or chooses not to, engage digitally at all.

Someone who either does not have access or ability to use a digital device, or who chooses not to engage online at all (preferring paper and so on).

2) Digital with Assistance (DwA) - This is where someone can engage but may need help to do so.

In the Network training pack we run through the types of personas in need of support and the mindsets of users.

Rather than generating new people into the HMCTS service, the digital support service will prove an alternative method for users to complete their forms but online . We know from talking to partners that there are hundreds of thousands of formal and informal conversations / support / advice sessions going on around the UK in this sector. A good proportion of those may also already require support with form-filling online, but centres and advice agencies will not be being funded to do that (i.e. doing it off their own backs). We thus want to activate all of these pathways into the service. This may include:

• Users coming through GOV.UK website where they can identify WAD and contact us for our support if they have difficulty completing forms
• Users coming through the HMCTS call centres (we are working with them to construct efficient user journeys from them to us, and train their staff to spot a “referral”)
• Users coming through the formal legal advice sector (in person, over the phone, remote etc)
• Users coming through informal helpers network (friends, family, church groups, unions, etc)

We will allow people through the front door of the service we are setting up (i.e. our contact centre who will take referrals from anywhere, triage and book them into a delivery centre like yours), or the back-door (i.e. a delivery centre who already sees people through their own existing service), especially as we know a good deal of volume may simply come through existing centres and the people they see.

We are working through exactly what that user journey will look like but it will include one of the following:

- A centre diverting that person to our central centre for triage

- Eligibility and tracking purposes, before going ahead and helping them

- Calling a special fast-track hotline

- Replicating our triage and consent processes on the partner back-end of our central management software system.

There will be a triage service that WAD handles at our head office (we are starting a new social impact call centre for this HMCTS project for this sole purpose). We are working with HMCTS to ensure it is right. As mentioned, this may also be replicated by delivery partners / centres through a back-end of our software for partners on the ground.

There are questions aimed at identifying what support needs the person has, their location, type of legal service need and so on. We will aim to market the service towards those that are in need so that we do not get high volumes of calls from those who are not eligible. However, if we do, we will channel them away from the service and to other signposted support.

We will make it clear to the user that there is an eligibility criteria for the service. We feel that, as an added benefit to centres involved in the programme, we will be saving them time by initially triaging users and taking a great deal of information from them upfront, which is passed directly to the booked delivery centre.

We will also have the live availability of support worker slots at centres, inside our national centralised software system. 

All of the above! We are aiming for this service to be truly omni-channel, both at our contact centre (for referrals in) and delivery centres (for support out). We want to give users the choice of channel that they prefer whether face to face, over the phone or remote video. Given Covid, we feel this is also prudent to over an omni-channel approach. This also means that if centres do not have the capacity to provide face-to-face (given your existing work and usage of staff), there are alternative options.

This project is fully funded by HMCTS. The end-user will never be charged anything for the digital support they receive. Centres are funded to provide this digital support, on an outcome basis. 

WAD works in a different way to GTF based around a different operating model.  WAD is an impact outsourcer managing and delivering the programme, through a big supply chain that contracts directly with us.  WAD is also adding many more features into the end-to-end service, such as:

- An upfront social impact call centre, which can provide centralised triage and direct booking, at a national level. The call centre agents have lived experience and can also spend much longer on the phone with each user than normal.

- A very wide and varied mixed network of physical and remote centres around the UK who can provide the support to each individual.

- A network of 100+ trainers who can provide phone, remote video and even 1:1 in-home support (Covid allowing).

This is all wrapped around a centralised bespoke software system that tracks all referrals in and out of the service, through WAD and through partners – allowing HMCTS to see accurate and consented reporting in real-time. Essentially, we are trying to innovate in the “how” of running large community programmes such as this, to solve historic pain points. Put another way, we are trying to improve the airport, not fly the planes.

-HMCTS is responsible for the administration of the criminal, civil and family courts in England and Wales. It is therefore not within HMCTS remit to provide or fund advice. Legal advice is not funded through this contract which has been set up to ensure users can access new digital services.

- However, HMCTS understands from the Digital Support Pilot that users may often need advice at the same time as completing the form. Trying to split this out into different appointments in unhelpful for the user.

- HMCTS is only funding the digital support element of an appointment to help the user complete the online service. If the partner centre already provides support and advice to users on this service, then they may do so alongside the provision of the digital support. However, this advice is not part of what is funded by HMCTS.

All payments for digital support services will be paid on a fixed-fee model that has been agreed with HMCTS:

- All centres across the UK will be funded in the same way: £35 for an outcome.  

- An outcome is defined as a completed / submitted form. In the pilot it was shown that each outcome / session lasted just under one hour (54 minutes on average).

- It is outcome based rather than a per minute rate, however it works out as the equivalent of just under £39 per hour.

- Centres can also have costs covered for getting their staff trained up on the service as well as for any travel expenses.  The training will be delivered by We Are Digital.

- For select centres, we also have budget for a “pump priming” fund where required, to help the centre get ready for the wider launch of the service, at your location.

Yes. Training will be provided to all staff who are providing the service (webinars, in-person visits, assets to download etc). The Network training pack will cover the following:

• Points of contact
• Digital Support Project
• WAD – Who we are
• Digital support – The Services
• Network
• The users
• Delivery process
• Acronyms
• Document history

Centres work with us in many different ways on these types of projects.  Some centres see a service like this as a new revenue stream for their organisation.  Others are essentially now being being funded for something they may be already providing for “free” in the past, just as part of the service.

Furthermore, this can be a way of ensuring a higher volume of visitors to your centre, not just from the direct bookings (that WAD will make to your centre), but by essentially ‘transitioning’ those people, that you help with legal advice, onto the Digital Support service, as appropriate.

Some centres use staff who have downtime from other projects, or who are not 100% utilized. Others make use of junior staff or students or volunteers at the centres – for instance from Law Clinics at Universities – since the digital support itself is relatively simple and not complex (compared to giving advice).

Overall we are intending on working with a lower number of centres, ensuring that we have complete geographic coverage, but who we can then promise a higher volume of referrals through each location, to make the project more worthwhile.

WAD will provide each partner with comprehensive training to all staff that are involved with this project.  WAD will also provide downloadable marketing assets to centres to allow them to communicate the new service offering within their local communities. 

This will include the following:

- Leaflet/poster templates,

- Sample emails, letters, suggested SMS messages and press releases;

- Presentation and social media templates;

- Best practice communication guides.

- A bespoke central website landing page dedicated to the centres organization containing a range of digital support information.

- A full list of FAQ’s and case studies to support the project

- Regular scheme updates and newsletters.

WAD will also have a dedicated partner manager to ensure everything centres need to book and promote referrals to the HMCTS digital service.

Most technology, whether it be laptops, tablets or smart phone, should now have the technology to be able to upload the documents online. Depending on the type of device being used there will be a ‘how to’ section on uploading completed documents, which centres can refer to when trying to help users to upload. Centres should also get a screenshots of the service, along with step by step instructions, to assist them in helping the user submit documentation.

The test phase is a small-scale trial of the nationwide rollout of digital support for HMCTS online services. It will take place in the West Midlands 7 authority areas for the test (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton), which are going live end of January / Early February for two areas of the HMCTS services (Appeal a benefit decision and Make a plea online for an offence).

There are no targeted volumes for the test, but we will receive referrals from users from both HMCTS (e.g. their call centres) and delivery partner centres too (e.g. their own throughput).

The test phase enables us to understand the end to end process: from referrals to bookings, to the support session, to tracking, funding and more – so the programme can be iterated, and any issues ironed out.

The test is also a chance to co-design the programme with delivery partner feedback, who understand how it is working “on the ground”.

Please see our other answer in the FAQs (Question 5) about how we triage referrals that come into the service.

Essentially, we allocate users from a variety of means, for example, their location, the geographic location of the delivery partner, the channel of choice (remote video, telephone, in-person), any specialist needs or type of legal form assistance need.

If we have multiple partners covering one region we will also take advisor capacity (of slots) into account, dependent on service demand. Overall, it is our intention to not have any geographic crossover between partners, and bring in the delivery network that is sufficient, without being saturated.

We are working on multiple routes for referrals, from the government, to WAD’s own project marketing activities, to the support of local centre partners to promote this programme in their region.

We are also intending to onboard only the right amount of centres, so that we have fewer centres but with a larger volume coming through on a per centre basis. If demand is too high, we will discuss with partner centres if they are able to scale up, or we can give some of that demand to a neighbouring partner or different channel, if capacity is an issue at that partner centre.

A core part of our innovative model is that we can centralise and manage a lot of administration on welfare programmes, so delivery partners only have to spend time assisting the individual directly with the specific need they have (digital support for HMCTS online forms in this instance).

This also makes the session more worthwhile for centre staff and more cost-effective for their time.

This includes We Are Digital bringing an impact call centre set-up specifically for this programme, who will take referrals and make bookings straight into centre partner diaries, tracking users from the start of their journey to the end, tracking funding invoices and reconciliation, reporting back to HMCTS, local marketing support and other administration.  

Our Trainer / Centre network team arrange training on an ongoing basis, on the following topics for the HMCTS Digital support project:

• Introduction to the Digital Support project – Light touch about the Appeal a benefit decision service (on test launch), then other services (as they roll out)
• Athena – How does the network access the system (our centralised software system)
• The users and their profiles
• Delivery process
• Law for life to provide sessions on the specific services (e.g. Appeal a benefit decision)
• Webinars will be recorded and all videos will be sent to Marketing to be uploaded to the landing page for partners (or their private landing page area for partners).

• Training pack – this will be split into smaller bitesize chunks and uploaded to the partner landing page

Yes, you can use volunteers. All training will be recorded and will be downloadable so they can be reviewed by anyone later on/other staff members or volunteers.

Our data department has produced a network and user survey which will be completed at the end of each session (which also provides proof it took place). We also have a new QA Department on this project that is putting in place a framework around this – which will include remote and in-person monitoring, spot checks and other quality measures.

Our network team have Quarterly webinars with all partners, and our plan is for this service (once BAU and fully launched) to have visits with the partner network and arrange meetings/webinars in person where possible. But we try to keep the requirements for reporting and meetings down to a minimum to not use up partner time (and we take on this responsibility to HMCTS).

The complaints process is mentioned in the training pack to partners. We also have a complaints policy, available on our website.

External Complaint Process

We Are Digital is committed to providing a high-quality service to everyone we deal with. To do this we need you to provide us with feedback about the service you receive. We need you to tell us if we get things wrong so that we can put them right, and help us continue to develop and improve our services. 

If you have a complaint you can contact us in the following ways: 

• Email:  info@we-are-digital.co.uk
• Telephone:  03333 444019
• By Post:  We Are Digital, 2nd Floor, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Coventry, CV1 2TE.
• We treat all complaints seriously and you will be treated with courtesy and fairness at all times. Your complaint will be handled sensitively and promptly. 

If you are contacting us, please help us by providing as much information as possible regarding your complaint. Please include any relevant dates and times, details of the concern, copies of any correspondence, and your contact details. For complaints, you may also want to add the word ‘Complaint’ as the title of the email.