Since 1st April Government Connect has engaged with and received excellent support from the local government community. Huge progress towards the stated target of 100% availability by 31 March 2009 has been made and currently all but 50 of the 410 English and Welsh local authorities have either implemented or are actively progressing implementation of Government Connect.
Building on the April 1st announcement and clearer data handling guidelines, DWP are announcing a revised policy concerning access to DWP case data. On 31st March 2009 DWP will cease the provision of RESTRICTED data to local authorities and the receipt of “sensitive personal data” from local authorities through means other than a government approved secure IT communications channel. This essential measure means that we now urge all local authorities to make information security a top priority and to commit to completing the Government Connect implementation process without delay.
Inability to access DWP case data would have an impact on authorities delivering housing and council tax benefit services. If you are a local authority click here to learn about the next steps to take including the exemption process
Read the letter sent out on the 1st April 2008
Contact the Government Connect Programme Director or your account manager for further details of this announcement and the impact to your local authority.
Read letter sent to the local authorities on July 7th 2008
For further information about DWP Housing Benefits Information Flows please contact: David Wright or Malcolm Mattack.
