Tell Us Once Team

Innovative and customer-focused, Tell Us Once (TUO) enables people to inform government just once of a birth or death. People are often at their most vulnerable at these times, especially when bereaved. Without TUO, notifying government requires people to navigate their way around myriad government services at a time when many are least able to cope.

By notifying other agencies TUO saves an enormous amount of time and stress. Examples of services notified include state pension, housing benefit and Disability Living Allowance. TUO defines a national core process for reporting a birth or death that is the same wherever it is delivered.

Our Equality Impact Assessment received praise from the cross-government Heads of Digital Engagement Group as an example of best practice. Our customer insight revealed that to best meet the needs of the diverse groups of people, the programme would need to provide multiple channels to access the service. We currently offer a face-to-face service, and the bereavement service can also be delivered over the telephone, with an online channel to be made available by end of 2011.

We offer this service despite the push for defaulting services to digital because the face-to-face interview offered by local authority partners is particularly helpful and comforting for those who require additional support and signposting to services. These groups include elderly people and minorities whose first language may not be English. Often our service benefits older women whose husbands have traditionally managed the household finances. The TUO Birth Service benefits new mothers by helping them to get access to services and faster payment of benefits such as Child Tax Credit.

About 50,000 people have used TUO, saving them a further seven contacts with government, and customer satisfaction is recorded as 99 per cent. This is a result of TUO putting the diverse needs of customers at the heart of the service design. During 2010/11 TUO had saved £3.37m while operating in just 43 councils. Included in this was £180,000 in preventing Blue Badge fraud, thereby freeing up parking space for disabled people. TUO will be offered nationwide by the end of 2011.