Information duplication
The same or substantially similar information is requested more than once.
Why examine duplication?
Repetition is not automatically duplication, and duplication is not automatically waste. Independent checking, appeal, regulatory oversight, separation of responsibilities and risk control may all justify asking for something more than once. The Review therefore begins with a cautious question: where substantially similar administrative work is repeated, what additional public value does the repetition produce?
Could the same public value be achieved with less total administrative effort?
What the Review examines
The programme follows administrative journeys rather than beginning with assumptions about particular institutions. It looks for repeated information requests, repeated verification, overlapping procedures, citizen-carried documents or information, difficulty identifying the responsible body, and repeated explanations of the same circumstances.
Six forms of potential duplication
Verification duplication
Evidence already established is verified again without an obvious additional purpose.
Procedural duplication
Similar administrative steps are repeated across a journey.
Functional duplication
Separate bodies perform substantially overlapping administrative functions.
Coordination duplication
Administrative effort is created by maintaining or navigating organisational boundaries.
Citizen-mediated duplication
The citizen repeats work principally because institutions do not carry the relationship between themselves.
Tests used in the Review
The framework combines a Duplication Map with a Public Value Test, Journey Test, Counterfactual Test and Burden Transfer Test. A finding of repetition establishes only potential duplication. Initial findings are framed as justified, review or investigate, rather than as a declaration of waste.
Has administrative work been removed, or merely relocated?
Next stage
The proposed pilot will examine a small number of ordinary administrative journeys and record the number of institutions, stages, information requests, repeat requests, verifications, citizen-managed hand-offs, documents carried, time spent, responsibility ambiguity and need for assistance. The aim is not a league table. It is to identify patterns worth understanding.
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