ASY0001

Written evidence submitted by Migrant Help

Migrant Help has delivered services to migrants in the UK for over 50 years. Throughout the period of the COMPASS accommodation contracts, Migrant Help delivered support services to asylum seekers through a contract and a grant agreement with the Home Office. These services included advice and assistance with completion of forms both in COMPASS initial accommodation and via a telephone call centre.

The AIRE contract was awarded to Migrant Help in January 2019, at the same time the contracts for AASC regional accommodation contracts were awarded. As the tender processes were run concurrently, AIRE bidders were required to make assumptions about which organisations might win the AASC contracts, whether initial accommodation locations and capacity would change, what systems, IT and processes might be used by individual AASC providers and how the AIRE provider would work with the AASC providers.

Migrant Help’s tender included the introduction of a First Response Centre (FRC), where all calls were initially received and triaged, with issue reporting and simple queries handled directly by the FRC, while complex calls were either forwarded to specialist OISC registered advisers or appointments were scheduled for call backs for long interviews to complete eligibility forms. The First Response Centre was a new service, designed to provide asylum seekers with an independent, single point of contact, to which they could direct issues, concerns, queries, complaints and requests. There was very limited data by which demand for this new service could be estimated.

The AIRE tender documentation included 9 scenarios setting out volumes for different contractual activities, to aid bidders in preparing their tenders. Some of the activities included “Issue Reporting – Self Service”, “Issue Reporting – Non-Self Service” and “General Advice & Guidance”. Migrant Help used these 9 scenarios to estimate potential call volumes coming into the AIRE First Response Centre (FRC).

“Issue Reporting – Self Service” represented contact via online forms to raise issues to AIRE. This did not involve a phone call to the FRC but would require potential intervention in recording and forwarding information. The scenario estimates were that this would account for 25%, 50% or 75% of the issue reporting volume.

“Issue Reporting – Non-Self-Service” represented telephone or webchat contact via the FRC. With scenarios 4-6 representing a population of 47,000 service users, we considered these 3 scenarios the most likely demand (figure 1). Within these three bands, the highest usage was in scenario 6 along with the highest reliance on non-self-serve, this indicated a monthly call volume average of 1792. 

Figure 1

Even when combining the “Issue Reporting – Non-Self-Service” estimate figures with the estimates for “Issue Reporting – Self-Serve”, and so assuming little or no use of the self-serve function, the highest usage in scenario 6 (figure 2) in the likely banding indicates a monthly call volume average of 2389.

Figure 2

“General Advice and Guidance” represented contact via FRC which then required transfer to the Eligibility, Advice and Guidance Line (EAGL), where more complex matters requiring OISC registration could be handled. Based on our own historic experience with the legacy contract and grant for which these services were provided by Migrant Help, we considered scenarios 2-3 the most likely level of demand. Based on the higher usage in scenario 3 (figure 3), this indicated a monthly call volume average of 11960.  Even using scenario 6, this indicated a monthly call volume average of 23421.

Figure 3

Combining the total for figure 2, scenario 6 average (2,389) and figure 3, scenario 3 average (11,960), to calculate the expected volumes, a total expected volume of 14,349 calls per month is reached. Doing the same using scenario 6 results in an average of 25,810 calls per month. As per the NAO report, p.37, section 3.23 “Demand for the service continued to be above the Department’s high estimate of 33,900 calls per month. Between January and March 2020, AIRE answered some 37,000 calls per month on average.” The additional 22,651 in the first comparison represents unanticipated demand, more than 2.5 times the demand expected. In the case of the latter comparison, the additional 11,190 calls represents unanticipated demand of a further 43% on the FRC service.

Whilst we appreciate that AIRE, as a single point of contact, was a new innovation, it would have been beneficial to receive more data on the predicted level of demand. This was complicated by the fact that the strands of service were provided by a number of accommodation providers in the past at varying levels of service provision. In addition, the positive client response to the service meant that demand in turn outstripped reasonable predictions.

Initial Challenges to AIRE

As contracts were awarded to AASC and AIRE providers at the same time and mobilisation and transition occurred concurrently, planning of the stages involved coordination of all four providers and the Authority.

Piloting - The NAO report, p.37, section 3.2 notes that “In May and June 2019 Migrant Help tested the service with a proportion of asylum seekers in the South and Wales regions. This work, in two regions where the accommodation provider did not change from COMPASS, so services were likely to have been relatively stable, did not predict the high level of demand for the full service.”

While accurate, this is not fully explanatory. As the South and Wales regions were awarded to the incumbent provider, the decision was taken by the Authority that the initial pilot of transition should occur within these regions, as the accommodation provider would be able transfer clients to the new service with little disruption and do this earlier in the transition window. In other areas, with changes of providers and/or properties, more time was needed before piloting would have been possible.

Data sharing – The COMPASS providers held service user and property data in legacy systems, which would need to be transferred to the AASC and AIRE providers. The data systems of the COMPASS, AASC and AIRE providers were not known at the time of tender and not compatible for straight-forward data transfer. During the mobilisation phase, from May 2019, Migrant Help, worked with the Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) department of the Authority and the accommodation providers to import relevant data only as service users moved over. In addition, data for all properties needed to be transferred to the AIRE system.

This process was reliant on the quality and timeliness of data of the provided by the COMPASS providers, one of which was not going to be delivering services under AASC and where the provider for some other regions was changing. This contributed to instances of inaccurate and incomplete data, which required call handlers to validate and enter far more information on calls than was intended in the design of the process, contributing to longer call times.

Migrant Help developed an API (Application Programming Interface) system to allow data transfer between the AASC providers and Migrant Help’s database. As Migrant Help’s relationship with the AASC provider is not contractual, the willingness of the AASC providers is required to make this API work. In August 2019, Migrant Help completed development to the point where the AASC providers needed to undertake development to connect to the system but await the AASC providers to complete the next steps. Fully implementing the API system will allow more accurate, efficient and timely transfer of information and result in improved speed and service in many areas, particularly in the call centres.

As the API connection was yet to be made, the AIRE service was reliant on the AASC providers to make notification outside the system of key events in the asylum seekers journey. This includes arrival into the Initial Accommodation (IA). As the AIRE contract specified that Induction briefing was to occur within 24 hours of the service user in the IA, delay in the manual notification, at times beyond the 24-hour window, hampered the ability of Migrant Help to deliver the briefing in a timely fashion.

The Authority has worked with Migrant Help and the AASC providers to progress the full implementation of the API system by the AASC providers. When this is fully functioning, it will bring further improvements to accuracy and processing times.

Staffing, training and security clearance – With far higher volumes than predicted, additional staffing was required to meet this demand. Due to the nature of the work, there is a requirement for DBS and counter-terrorism checks to be undertaken on staff, along with standard employment checks. As this level of security checking typically takes 6-8 weeks, there is a lag between the identification of the need for staff and the time at which those newly recruited staff can begin work on the service. With call demand 43% higher than predicted, this represented a large recruitment and training programme, which contributed to the delay in having staff to take the additional calls coming through.

With a significant recruitment drive, such as was required, a large proportion of the staff on-boarding were relatively inexperienced. It is typical to see a reduction in call handling times as staff become more experienced in the work and the use of the telephone and computer systems. Typically, within the first six months, this results in efficiencies gained of 20% or more over time.

We have seen this improvement in call handlers over the periods beyond the NAO report, both in the First Response Centre and within the specialist adviser team, delivering substantially reduced waiting times.

Delivery of AIRE services

In addition to challenges set out above, certain practicalities have become evident during the delivery of AIRE services which Migrant Help are working with the Authority and AASC providers to overcome. The resolution of the API connectivity will contribute to improvements in the service delivery. As Migrant Help’s contractual relationship is with the Authority, Migrant Help is reliant on the leverage of the Authority with the AASC providers and good relationships with the AASC providers to achieve these.

In addition, certain activities and measures which are set out within the contract do not reflect the operational reality and so changes in system design are required to capture the activity appropriate. For example, there is a contractual requirement to submit a completed eligibility form within 5 days. However, the submission requires the service user to provide evidence to support this application or the application will be rejected. Migrant Help requests the evidentiary support from the service user and then must wait until it is provided by the service user before the application is submitted. This may result in the total days from commencement of the form to submission to exceed the specified time frame while the documents are sourced and provided. The system did not reflect the need for this ‘pause’ in processing, while awaiting evidence and so some redesign of reporting is required. As it was not historically set up in this way, the impact cannot be retrospectively adjusted or reflected in past performance data.

The volume of calls far outstripped the anticipated volumes and continues to do so; this contributed to early difficulties in the service delivery but also demonstrates a large previously unmet demand for a trusted, single point of contact for service users. It is rewarding to know that our service users are able to access support when they need it, 24/7 365 days per year and have reliably been able to do so with short average wait times since February 2020.

Since go-live, AIRE has provided rich data to the Home Office relating to the queries we receive. We believe that this has led to targeted inspections of properties, increased safeguarding awareness and a more cohesive approach to caring for the service users involving the AASC providers, Mirant Help and the Home Office. For example, we have had cases raised to us which we believe would have gone unreported in the past, regarding allegations of inappropriateness. In addition, clients feel confident to report issues of anti-social behaviour directed towards them by members of the public. 

As noted in the report, Migrant Help also consistently met targets for resolving advice and guidance calls on the first contact and providing interpretation services within two minutes, both of which are critical in supporting the specific needs of our service users in a way that they can access and understand.

COVID-19 Response

Migrant Help are proud to provide essential services, which operated continuously throughout the COVID-19 lockdown. Thanks to the hard work, resilience and dedication of our colleagues, we are pleased to continue to provide a 24-hour, 7 day a week telephone helpline supporting asylum seekers in the UK, delivered in partnership with Connect Assist.

The period since lockdown has created many challenges to the service we deliver:-

• The use of hotels, the majority of which are over three miles away from the core IA site
• The lack of social activities and communities around the hotels that were stood up
• Feeling of isolation and lack of cash for a significant period of time whilst in full board accommodation
• Difficulty in obtaining contact telephone numbers to communicate with the SUs and complete Inductions and ASFs according to the KPIS
• The inability for SUs to progress through the different stages of the asylum process ie Initial Accommodation to dispersed
• General frustration and unwillingness to accept situation but a proportion of the SUs
• Deterioration of SUs mental health stability as lockdown continued

Our contact centres and regional teams have been available to SUs and the number of calls has increased throughout lockdown and has maintained at that level.  Again, the number of SUS accommodated under S98 is at an extremely high level which leads to more enquiries directed towards the contact centres and regional teams.

In relation to the call answer times and the improvements over the first year of the contract, the following information is provided. The table below show the percentage of calls within KPI in the First Response Centre. Within the pandemic, call answer times are within 180 seconds.

The table below demonstrates the volume of incidents reported over the period to August 2020 and reflects the increasing number of service users supported and the demand on the service. The number of incidents has given the Authority and Accommodation Providers a wealth of data on the services and the needs of the service users that was previously unavailable.  We are proud of the performance improvements above in light of the increasing volume of service demand.

Summary

We continue to work closely with the Authority, AASC providers and our subcontractors to deliver continually improving critical support to our service users. We recognise and respond to the need to meet the high level of demand and complex environment in which we work. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Authority and the AASC providers to deliver a high-quality service.

Migrant Help are working closely with the AASC providers and the Home Office to deliver continuous improvements to the service which will benefit clients during the ongoing pandemic and beyond. For example, work is ongoing to develop additional translated joint-briefing materials with pictorial support for clients with literacy issues.

We are grateful to colleagues at Migrant Help and all of our partners for their compassion and commitment to our work to provide vulnerable migrants with the advice and support they need to feel safe and to lead successful lives in the UK.

October 2020