3.12 The Agency set up a Customer Forum on which about thirty groups were represented. Input was high level and representatives were not best placed to inform the development of operational processes, such as how Registered Bodies would submit applications. The Agency did not consult some key players until later in the implementation phase. It held 23 Registered Body roadshows from January to June 2001, which were well received by the 5,000 participants and only then recognised the huge demand for a paper application channel after the requirements for the Information Technology system had been established and signed off.
3.13 Stakeholders we consulted said that they had questioned some of the Agency's assumptions, but felt they were ignored. In particular they questioned:
■ The Bureau's proposed use of a call centre when customers' preferences were for paper and online routes;
■ The unlikelihood of applications being received individually, as employers preferred to retain control of the process, and hence to send applications in batches;
■ Whether the Bureau could cope with seasonal peaks and troughs in applications, for example from teachers; and
■ Whether the Bureau could cope with the likely high levels of inaccuracies on paper forms.
The Bureau responded to these issues subsequently by holding the Customer Forum, introducing the paper application channel, and implementing a service improvement plan after go-live when problems became evident.