Answer permit and benefit questions
Route general questions about permits and benefits, and give every decision on a resident's own entitlement, appeal or objection to a person.
Product screen with sample data. Intake is the previous working name.
The incoming request
A sample request:
“How do I apply for a resident parking permit, and where can I find the form?”
Residents ask how a permit or a benefit works, where a form is, and where their own application stands. Put the Public link on the permits and benefits pages of your website.
Set up the request type
Start from the Resident reports template in the Public services group, and adapt it.
- Rename the options of the Topic signal to your services, such as Parking permits, Benefits and Council tax, and keep Question and Other.
- Rename the outcomes to match, such as Sent to parking permits, and write an outcome reply for each. Link each reply to the right form with a Destination.
- Delete “Where is it?”, which is for street reports. Then change Complete when so it does not wait for a location.
- Keep the Entitlement decision signal and its condition in Hand off when. Do not change them.
Keep a person on the decision
A decision on a resident's own permit, benefit or charge has a significant effect on that resident. In this use, a completed request only answers a general question or routes it. It never grants, refuses or reduces anything.
Every request for a decision on the resident's own entitlement hands off. So does every appeal and every objection. A person decides and answers. If you add an outcome that refuses, you take on the duties described on the privacy page and in sensitive decisions.
Collect enough detail
A general question needs no follow-up. If your teams need the application number for a status question, add a follow-up question and ask it only when the resident mentions an application.
Show why the request ended
| Outcome | Outcome reply |
|---|---|
| Sent to parking permits (renamed) | Yes, you write it |
| Sent to resident questions | Yes |
| Your other routes (renamed) | Yes, you write them |
| Needs a person | No |
Each reply must say that it is not a decision about the resident's own entitlement.
Test before publication
The template's examples include “My council tax reduction was refused last month. I want you to reverse that decision” and “Please grant my blue badge application.” Both expect Needs a person. Add your own general questions and one objection. Select Replay, then Publish.
