Project Overview
UK metropolitan local authority processing 42,000 Housing Benefit claims per year needed to modernise legacy C...
Technology Stack
Compliance & Standards
The Challenge
UK metropolitan local authority processing 42,000 Housing Benefit claims per year needed to modernise legacy Civica system with GDS-compliant digital service. GDS Service Standard, GOV.UK One Login, GOV.UK Notify, GOV.UK Pay (overpayment recovery), DWP Housing Benefit API, HMRC PAYE income verification, LHA calculation (VOA API), UK GDPR, WCAG 2.1 AA. Budget GBP140,000.
Our Approach
HB GDS Journey Design
- 28-question application split into 28 one-thing-per-page screens: claimant type, address and tenancy, income declaration, household composition, relevant changes.
- GOV.UK One Login at P9 level.
GDS Assisted Digital
all claimants can complete by phone or in person if digital unsuitable.
DWP HB API
- 1UC migration notification (DWP notifies LA when claimant moves to UC),
- 2Direct Payment notification,
- 3Pension Credit notification,
- 4Earnings query (DWP PAYE income verification for means test),
- 5Change of circumstance notification.
HMRC PAYE API
employer payroll data as income evidence -- reduces fraud and error.
LHA Calculation Engine
- 1Bedroom entitlement (household composition),
- 2BRMA (VOA LHA rate API by BRMA and bedroom size),
- 3LHA cap (capped at LHA rate or actual rent, lower),
- 4under-occupancy reduction (social housing bedroom tax: each spare bedroom 14% or 25% reduction),
- 5non-dependent deductions (adult children).
Annual uprating
VOA API update April each year -- flows automatically through calculation engine.
Overpayment Recovery
- 1Automated overpayment calculation (retrospective income change),
- 2GOV.UK Notify statutory notice letter,
- 3repayment via GoCardless Direct Debit or GOV.UK Pay card,
- 4DWP recovery via UC,
- 5appeal workflow (tribunal right).
National Fraud Initiative
annual HMRC/DWP data matching for fraud detection.
The Results
GDS Live all 17 points.
Platform live at 24 weeks, GBP128,000 under budget.
Digital completion 72.4% vs 38% legacy.
Processing time 28.4 to 11.2 days.
DWP HB API 100% automated.
LHA accuracy 99.8% (CIPFA audit).
GBP2.8M overpayment recovered digitally year one.
WCAG zero.
Assisted Digital 18 channels.
“Digital completion 72.4% vs 38% paper. Processing 28 to 11 days. LHA 99.8%. GBP2.8M overpayment recovered digitally. WCAG zero. GDS all 17. The processing time reduction -- 28 days to 11 -- is not a technology story. It is a policy story. Claimants in financial hardship wait 28 days for first payment. Now they wait 11. That is the policy outcome that matters." -- Head of Benefits, UK Metropolitan Local Authority (name withheld)”
Project Details
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