Will, your points entirely correct, but getting at least part of input online makes it easier to validate e.g. correct address/postcode (so any correspondence has a fighting chance of arriving), while careful use of Google Translate or similar browser extensions could ease things for some ESL.

Having said that, DWP use of tech is still lamentable. It was months before I found out there was official, free DWP support over LinkedIn.com & the jobsearch machines still basically do not work. I am looking for an internal DWP contact for a constructive exchange on this: frontline staff freely admit the tech limitations but seem to have given up hope of improvement.

Although I think this proposal would do no harm, I think you’re over-estimating its potential. Our charity Community Links works with unemployed people in East London all the time.

A couple of years ago we discovered that 70% of forms submitted to the local jobcentre were rejected because they were filled in incorrectly. We put volunteers in there to help people (most of whom spoke English as a second language, or had literacy problems) fill in the forms. Rejection rate fell to 1%, saving over a year of staff time.

Online forms would be a great solution for many (I agree we could aim much higher than the current 2%), but they shouldn’t become a substitute for the personal, face-to-face support that can really change some people’s lives.

Most people who claim JSA are not necessarily degree holders or highly paid and able to afford a computer or to go on-line

People who pay tax can maybe afford a computer at home

People on JSA may be leading chaotic lives

Claiming benefits ought to be a one-step process. Tell the internet your issues, it goes away and calculates, and your bank is credited ( or your mobile phone in Africa ). The system could be more intelligent, and the time to serve minutes rather than days

It needs more trust and devolved local powers to the claimant

“Labour rewards benefit cheats” on the front page of the Mail. It would look like running to the base or even bribing (the electorally active) white, working class, disaffected core voters not to stay home or go BNP. Whether you do it or only appear to do it, it will be committed to the celluloid of public perception and the rewards are debatable. It’s the reason Cameron flip-flopped on spending cuts and the marriage tax allowance, and has so far resisted calls from from his right to talk about immigration.

Not bad, though. Actually I think the Japanese government did something similar to this during their recession in the late 90s to resuscitate consumer spending, but they issued higher value vouchers that had to be accepted on the high street. I mean, if we’re going to print funny money let’s at least put it in people’s pockets so they can get some new Jimmy Choos and not onto theoretical balance sheets.

This is attempting to shift individual behaviour. The thing is, like so much else in this country we do things for no reason other than the fact that we always have. Europeans find it funny that in this day and age we still have two taps for hot and cold water on every sink instead of using a mixer device. Same deal with three pin electrical plugs.

Queues at the bank are ridiculously long and largely unnecessary; most of those time-wasters aren’t paying in cheques, they’re holding up everybody else with simple transactions that can be done online. Almost as unpleasant as going to the post office. That’s why I’ve never understood that expression, ‘laughing all the way to the bank’…I’ve never seen it.

Besides, government aren’t the only ones with good answers. Last year when fears of a full blown depression were very very real, I read in the American press about about small towns in the mid west where local businesses were offering services completely free of charge to people who had been made redundant. Barber shops were doing free haircuts and dry cleaners were pressing shirts and cleaning suits for people preparing for job interviews. Even more inspiring was the fact that there was very little abuse of that honour system.

Livy