Government app to be launched next year, allowing Brits to access things in one place

Former_MSE_Sophie

Tory MP Steve Barclay has unveiled plans to launch an app that will make it much easier for Brits to access Government services, such as claiming benefits and changing a driving licence.

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Government app to be launched next year, allowing Brits to access free schools meals and change driving licence details in one place

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TELLIT01

Lord help us!  Universal Credits was supposed to enable people to access all benefits in one place.  That works beautifully doesn't it.

funnyvideo

This sort of thing makes me angry. If you're genuinely in need of financial support and have your priorities right then you wouldn't have a smartphone. 

Thrugelmir

Overlooks the fact that much online works extremely well. Self assessment for example. 

Jillanddy

funnyvideo said:

This sort of thing makes me angry. If you're genuinely in need of financial support and have your priorities right then you wouldn't have a smartphone. 

And this sort of comment overlooks the fact that this kind of policy is exactly why having a smartphone is being made a priority for those in financial need by policy makers who have no experience of poverty. And that digital exclusion is fast becoming a major contributor to poverty. 

But equally, you do know that lots of government services are not about benefits or financial support?

unforeseen

The majority of libraries have computers that are available for use. 

tacpot12

unforeseen said:

The majority of libraries have computers that are available for use. 

While the fit and well can access such facilities, those who are too sick to work, or disabled, or just busy because they are fitting part-time jobs around their children's school hours really benefit from access from their home. Hence having a SmartPhone app makes a lot of sense for them. Many people will have a SmartPhone from when they were working, or have received a hand-me-down from their family. Also, in a fair and equitable society, why should being poor mean that you have to access government services in a different way? It's just stigmatises poor people.

Some people think that being poor should be stigmatised, but some many of us are actually just one or two paydays away from financial ruin! If you lost your job through ill health, could you afford to pay your mortgage? Universal Credit and/or the national minimum wage doesn't pay enough for people to be able to pay for Permanent Health Insurance, they have to rely on the state benefits as their satefy net.   

SmartPhones need not be expensive. Good SmartPhones are plentiful on eBay, which leads to my one request to the Government: Make the app un-demanding of the hardware. If the App will run on phones that are five years old, pretty much everyone will be able to either afford a phone or be given one by a charity. I think there might even a rationale for a free phone that can only have this goverrnment app installed on it. (Such a phone might be able to make calls if the user pays to top up the SIM, but can always  receive calls).

TELLIT01

funnyvideo said:

This sort of thing makes me angry. If you're genuinely in need of financial support and have your priorities right then you wouldn't have a smartphone. 

When I worked at DWP it seemed that most of those attending the office had smartphones. 

elsien

And if you have a smartphone you don’t need to pay for a landline/broadband. Or are we now saying that poor people shouldn’t have phones at all?
You can pick up a cheap old smartphone for £30 odd - that’s what I just sold mine for. Being in possession of a smartphone doesn’t mean you’re spending silly money on an expensive contract. 

Jillanddy

unforeseen said:

The majority of libraries have computers that are available for use. 

The majority of libraries that haven't yet been closed due to cuts may have some computers available for public use,  providing they also can be booked at a time that individuals can use them in these pandemic days when shared anythings need rigorous sanitising between uses. And even then,  that does not mean that people can use them - digital exclusion is about far more than available hardware. Being computer literate, or even just literate, isn't the same thing as being able to use some social media sites or play whatever is the current trending game.  Do you have any idea at all how many young adults are leaving school in the poorest areas barely literate in any sense of the word? 

Also, just a minor point,  but computers don't run apps. Smartphones run apps. How many libraries have smartphones available for public use? 

funnyvideo

I'm not saying poor people shouldn't have smartphones, but they shouldn't be expected to have one either.

The issue here is having technology forced upon us. I strongly believe if someone wants to live a technology free existence they should be allowed to do so. I once knew of someone who got made redundant from his job as a labourer in his late 50s and when he went to the job centre he kept being directed to the internet. He'd never used a computer in his life, he never needed to but the point was he needed financial support whilst looking for work and was being told to fork out on a computer.

I've been unemployed myself and would only buy the essentials during that time. Even paying £30 for a cheap smartphone is a lot when you're living off JSA.