5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 The department remains committed to continually improving the service it provides to its customers. The CMS sought independent evaluation of its customer service practices and is now in its third year of achieving the Cabinet Office Customer Service Excellence accreditation. 5.3 The department commenced a Transformation Programme in Autumn 2020 to improve outcomes for children, by enabling parents to put in place and manage sustainable child maintenance arrangements in a more efficient manner. So far, it has stream-lined and automated processes, introduced a live chat functionality, and launched a new on-line service: Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance. By 2024, when the programme completes, it will introduce further improvements that make it easier for customers to interact with the department, including increased automation to enable support that is tailored to customers’ needs. 5.4 The department is building on the development of its Customer Service strategy which will objectively analyse upheld complaints and review current measures. It will develop user research focussed on customer perception and introduce a programme allowing real time gathering of customer feedback through the introduction of “Voice of the Customer”. This programme will translate feedback into insight and help the department understand what customers are experiencing. This shares learning from customer contact and is part of an individual’s training and consolidation. 8.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 8.2 The department’s Transformation Programme introduces a range of changes that improve the efficiency of key activities, including the automation of high-volume changes, improving the online offering to enable customers to self-serve their query or report their change without needing to call CMS. It has also launched a new on-line service and live chat replacing a £3.3 million per annum outsourced contract. 8.3 The increased levels of automation mean higher levels of customer interactions are processed without caseworker intervention, reducing unit costs. 8.4 The department reports on its performance in its Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent DWP accounts for financial year 2021-22 were laid on 7 July 2022 . The department regularly reviews its services and programmes to ensure it is delivering value for money.