About the work
Why is it being done
London Councils administers the Freedom Pass scheme (part of the English National Concessionary Travel scheme) on behalf of the 32 London boroughs and City of London and currently provides a website for older persons to apply for and manage their Freedom Pass online, and for disabled person pass holders to replace their pass online. The responsibility for assessing the eligibility of disabled person applicants lies with the individual London borough, of which some already offer an online application service.
London Councils administers the Taxicard scheme which provides subsidised travel in licensed taxis and private hire vehicles to London residents with serious mobility impairments or who are severely sight impaired. London Councils do not currently provide an online service for Taxicard applicants or existing members, although some local authorities may do.
It is London Councils aim to introduce a standardised and consistent application process across London for all applicants for the Freedom Pass and Taxicard schemes, which will also enable users to manage their concessionary pass/es simply and securely online.
The Discovery will explore user needs for creating an end-to-end digital solution whereby:
•Disabled and older people can:
- make simple online applications for the Freedom Pass and Taxicard schemes (uploading proofs of eligibility and a photograph),
- manage their Freedom Pass/Taxicard securely and simply online (e.g. update details, close account),
- replace their pass and make a payment, where required,
- renew their expired pass and provide proof of continued eligibility,
- provide consent for data to be shared with Transport for London for the Dial a Ride scheme, and with local authorities for Blue Badge screening, and
- be assured that their data will be transferred securely and timely to the Customer Management System hosted by London Councils contractor.
The Discovery will need to analyse customer satisfaction of the existing digital and paper application service, establish user needs, and identify opportunities which will support our digital roadmap.
Subject to acceptable options being presented, Alpha will commence following Discovery. Alpha will provide prototypes/wireframes and test the best route of achieving the desired outcome such that, on conclusion, we will be able to procure a Beta and Live for the new product solution using the findings found through the Discovery/Alpha Phases.
Problem to be solved
Discovery:
The Discovery will need to analyse customer satisfaction of the existing digital and paper service, establish user needs, and identify opportunities which will support our digital roadmap.
- Conduct user research and testing in order to develop a suite of user needs, personas and user stories.
- Review and detail user website testing to understand the journey of users through existing website services.
- User story mapping and/or service blueprinting.
- Identify current online system and paper application constraints; identifying areas for improvement and opportunities to enhance user journey and accessibility.
- Explore the advantages of/opportunities for sharing machine-readable personal eligibility data across schemes, and data sharing with local and central Government departments for eligibility purposes - to help facilitate quicker application turnaround times at London Councils, Transport for London, and at local authorities.
- Use data sharing and data matching for the detection and prevention of fraud (e.g. for eligibility checks, identity and residency checking, using integrated technology solutions to validate documentation, explore links with the CIFAS National Fraud database and Amberhill), and consider that some local authorities may also have other uses of personal data stated in their privacy policies.
- The opportunities/advantages of using common ‘Government as a Platform’ components.
- Provide scope, timing and potential costs of implementing/delivering a solution.
Alpha :
- Develop and test chosen option with all users, demonstrating its technical, contractual and legal feasibility
- Work with London Councils contractor to meet boundaries and technical stack requirements when developing prototypes, for back and front-end technologies. The following sets out our contractor’s capabilities and which frameworks they can support:
For back end technologies:
- Asp.net Framework
- Asp.net Core
- Or any other C# related web framework
For front end technologies:
- Javascript/Jquery (or similar libraries)
- Scss/Css
- Asp.net Razor templating engine.
- Bootstrap
(PHP, Java or any Javascript frameworks will not be supported, e.g. React, vue or similar).
- Work with London Councils contractor and stakeholders to meet API requirements
- Propose options for maintenance, extension and support and hosting of the website and reporting etc
- Provide flexibility to allow systems to be continually updated and improved
- Identify solutions that enable authorities to trouble shoot and request enhancements e.g. a communication platform hub could be used for providers and authorities to communicate on day to day issues, with providers taking an active approach to quickly publicise issues or concerns.
- Identify what we need to do in Beta, highlighting risks/dependencies
- Provide indicative costs for full system development.
All data collected through the self-service website must be made available through APIs to London Councils’ databases. These are currently managed and maintained by a third party, ESP Systex Ltd.
Background Information
The below provides feedback on the requirements from potential users and stakeholders who have an invested interest in this project.
FEEDBACK A
As new systems are continually in need of being updated and improved there needs to be some form of forum whereby users (i.e. local authorities) can troubleshoot and request further enhancements. IT providers should be active on this site to quickly publicise issues or concerns.
FEEDBACK B
The Discovery phase will need to help inform KPIs and short- and long-term analytics for monitoring purposes.
FEEDBACK C
To avoid duplicating research and spending time on developing ideas that have already been tested in similar projects the supplier should engage with local authorities who have an existing knowledge base of online application services for older and disabled users.