28 January 2005
Citizens Advice has warned the government not to try to use its staff to cover for the loss of 30,000 jobs in the Department for Work and Pensions.
CA confirmed that the government had given it £20m to improve its IT systems, but stressed there was no agreement arising from this for Citizens' Advice Bureaux staff to perform data entry for the public to make benefit claims. John Wheatley, senior social policy officer at CA, the body representing local CABs, said that the IT programme was there only to 'enhance advice to clients'.
Wheatley was responding to comments by Ian Watmore, the government's head of IT, that he intends 'to transform the relationship with citizens so maybe then they can service themselves, or intermediaries can operate on their behalf — the private sector or Citizens Advice Bureaux'.
Trade unions also responded negatively to the suggestion. A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services union said it was inappropriate for large sections of the population. 'You are talking about some of the most excluded people, who won't necessarily have access to computers or even telephones and call centres,' he said.
PFjan2005
