Online Free School Meals: a revolution in public service delivery

Free school meals play an important role in tackling disadvantage and child poverty. They also form part of a child’s social education, and alleviate some of the financial difficulties experienced by parents on low incomes. 

In the past, the application process for free school meals was an antiquated, difficult and slow, paper-based process.

The Online Free School Meals project is a cross-government project streamlining delivery across four central government departments and 174 local authorities in England and Wales. By creating an electronic application process Online Free School Meals makes it simpler and faster for over 1 million children to receive these important meals, whilst delivering significant efficiencies for local authorities and other government departments.

In April 2009 Online Free School Meals was initiated as a key project within Connect Digitally, a national business change programme funded by the Department for Education and led by Hertfordshire County Council.  

The objectives of the Project included:

• To speed up and simplify the process for parents/carers
• To reduce the stigma associated with the application process
• To reduce bureaucracy for schools and local authorities
• To reduce the capacity for fraud and error.

Working with parents/carers as well as service support and delivery teams, Connect Digitally developed customer journey maps and process models to illustrate the complexity of the ‘old way of working’ for parents/carers, authorities, schools and other government departments  and demonstrate the potential of the ‘new way’.  This convinced all stakeholders that the free school meals service delivery should be removed from the ‘too difficult to solve box’ and provided a stimulus for the necessary business changes and innovation. 

The Online Free School Meals solution is an integrated hub, with web service functionality, enabling immediate eligibility checking by local authorities or parents/carers against data from four government departments.  Connect Digitally has delivered a solution which enables local authorities to take a modular, flexible approach to implementation, meeting their technical expertise and local requirements.

The solution includes:

• Central shared service checking eligibility in real-time
• Robust, reliable, reusable infrastructure linking four central government departments and 174 local authorities
• High information security.

The project developed:

• Web services interface with local authorities incorporating high levels of security   
• Interface supporting single and batch eligibility checks
• Three tier architecture: presentation layer, application layer and database layer
• Fourth layer: GSI interconnect providing connectivity to other government departments
• Encryption of web services XML
• Scalable architecture.

The project also:

• Clarified legality of data sharing  
• Commissioned legal compliance
• Set up Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between Department for Education and other government departments
• Developed customer journeys and business process models
• Implemented Service Management Framework
• Produced Developer Toolkit, including guidelines for developing local authority solutions, system integration guide and sample XML
• Developed Starter Pack to guide users through the stages of implementing an Online Free School Meals service
• Utilised Community of Practice website enabling solution transfer and information sharing.

Online Free School Meals delivers an ‘end-to-end’ service enabling parents/carers to apply online for free school meals quickly and easily.  Incorporating real-time eligibility checking, parents/carers and local authorities are immediately informed of eligibility.  With automated notification to schools, children can be provided with a free school meal as early as the same or following day.  

Parents/carers are feeling the benefits of the new system:
“I wouldn’t have bothered with the old system; it is so easy this way.”
“Very very good I'm not good at reading and writing and I found it so easy thank you”

Local authority service managers are also enthusiastic:
“The Online Free School Meals project is a revolution in public service delivery.”  
“Of all the systems I’ve worked on, this is the only one that really makes a difference.”

The original objective to streamline the application process resulted in two additional innovations: automatic renewals and improved audit process.  With use of ‘informed consent’ and the Department for Education Free School Meals Eligibility Checking Service batch process, parents/carers can have their records checked automatically and effortlessly, preventing the need for regular reapplications. Local authorities can also audit the free school meal service using the batch eligibility checking service process which prevents parents/carers building up debts when their circumstances change and reduces the costs and unpleasantness associated with chasing up debts from financially disadvantaged families.

Costs have been reduced although more citizens are applying for free school meals due to the increased ease of application.  For example one local authority Coordinator for Food in Schools has reported:

“Our take up of free school meals has increased by 2,500 to 11,000 but we’ve been able to reduce staff by more than half … because of the eligibility checking service. This has saved the council over £20,000.”

Feedback from on the ground supports this as seen in another local authority service coordinator’s report:

“… the feedback we have received from schools indicates parents find the ability to apply online preferable to completing a paper form. The two main reasons given for this are that the online process is quicker and easier, and that the online system offers a greater level of anonymity than completing a paper form either at the school or at the Civic Centre. This would explain the high number of applications we receive via the online system and helps explain the increased take up in free school meals we have seen over the last two years.”

In some local authorities, 65% of customers are selecting self-service digital channels, and where digital assistance is also provided, this figure rises to 100% - exceptional take-up for this demographic.

Data accuracy has improved and this has resulted in fewer parents/carers being provided with the benefit when they are ineligible and a consequent reduction in accumulation of debt.

Many local authorities have made efficiency savings and this has often translated into headcount and office space reductions.  For example:

“Because of the hub, the Free School Meals Department has been able to downsize from 3 area offices employing 9 staff to one central office of 5 staff all in one location.”

Online Free School Meals was funded to support English local authorities; however the service, tools and products have enabled the solution to be transferred to Welsh local authorities at no extra cost.

This has been a best practice exemplar for improving delivery of digital services. Key success factors which have universal application include:

• Putting the citizen at the centre of service transformation
• Highlighting the benefits and measuring results
• Identifying common barriers and developing solutions
• Collaborating impartially and with parity with commercial partners
• Communicating effectively with all stakeholders at all stages of the transformation
• Transferring knowledge and solutions to avoid reinvention of the wheel and enable re-use of effective solutions

Data sharing discussions involved Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice as well as the four core other government departments and whilst progress on data sharing and legality was slow and tortuous it stimulated many heated discussions.  The process has moved partners from an intractable ‘No’ to a new way of thinking about data sharing. Government departments are now reviewing opportunities for reusing the eligibility checking service infrastructure to simplify delivery of other benefits, such as assisted transport, school uniform, grants and cycling proficiency.

The change in government approach to data sharing is a great step forward and a huge achievement.

This project has won a number of awards, including:

•    Government Computing April 2010, Overall Winner
•    Government Computing April 2010, Collaboration
•    Local Government IT Excellence October 2010, Service Transformation
•    Civil Service Award November 2010, Public Service

A key feature of this project has been the wealth of communications products, tools to assist service transformation and a secure environment for sharing and transferring knowledge and best practice.