Single Contact

Southwark Council with support from ValueAdding.com implemented Single Contact as a face-to-face service where people registering a death can also use this service to notify relevant council departments and other government organisations at the same time. Prior to this such a service did not exist and therefore the customer had to work out whom to inform and usually had to send each service a separate certified copy of the death certificate. One in three households in Southwark is on some form of benefits and  so the bereaved relatives often have a large number of separate departments to contact. While this information was available from the individual organisations, many people are simply not in a state of mind to follow all these processes at this difficult time.

Now with the introduction of the Single Contact service, and with the customer’s consent, the Registrar delivers the service which consists of the following four key strands:

• Securely sending details of the deceased and next of kin or contact point to the relevant Southwark and central government departments and local hospitals;

• Explaining who else needs to be informed;

• Identifying other relevant council services including likely benefits entitlement and offering advice on claiming these benefits and

• Making referrals or signposting to other appropriate services e.g. counselling and support groups.

The Single Contact services in Southwark council are Council Tax, Electoral Services, Housing, Housing and Council Tax Benefit, Blue Badge, Adult and Children’s Social Services, Libraries, General Accounts and Pensions. Other government agencies involved are the DWP (The Pension Service, Disability & Carers Service and Jobcentre Plus), HMRC (Tax Credits and Child Benefit), DVLA and local hospitals.

For Southwark many of their residents do not pass away in the borough as the two nearest main hospitals are located in the neighbouring borough of Lambeth. This has led to increased partnership working between the two councils so that the service is offered from both Southwark and Lambeth Register Offices and from the Bereavement Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital. The latter is a truly one-stop service where bereaved relatives collect the medical certificate of cause of death, register the death and receive the Bereavement Support Service all in a single appointment. They also now offer a telephone bereavement service at all three locations. 

The service has proved extremely successful from both council and customer perspectives.  The Council has received plaudits from customers who are hugely appreciative of the service, staff delivering the service feel motivated and appreciated in helping customers during what is often a difficult time for them, and there are significant benefits to the Council through contact avoidance.

Following the success of the Single Contact Bereavement service, Southwark has established a similar Single Contact  Birth service where parents registering the birth of a baby can notify all the relevant organisations and get help making their claim for Child Benefit and tax credit as well as receiving information and advice on other subjects relevant to new parents.