Insights on Anonymised Data of Community Development Council Digital Voucher Usage for Targeted Support to Lower-income Households
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui’s inquiry on using anonymised Community Development Council (CDC) digital voucher data to provide targeted support for lower-income households and social agency partners. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai clarified that because the scheme is universal, income-specific data is not collected, though he shared high claim rates and merchant participation figures. He explained that the vouchers utilize the RedeemSG platform, a general system developed by GovTech to serve various government schemes and facilitate digital voucher usage. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai stated that other government agencies interested in using this system for their own voucher tranches are welcome to approach GovTech. He invited government agencies interested in utilizing the system to support the voucher schemes of social agency partners to approach GovTech for further discussion.
Transcript
88 Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Ministry is able to share any insights on the anonymised data of the Community Development Council (CDC) digital voucher usage from the CDCs; (b) how do the CDCs intend to use these data insights to provide further targeted support for lower-income households; and (c) how will this data and system be used to support the voucher schemes of social agency partners.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: The $130 million CDC Vouchers Scheme 2021 using digital vouchers was launched on 13 December 2021 to thank Singaporeans for their solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to support heartland merchants and hawkers. On 11 May 2022, the CDCs rolled out another tranche of vouchers under the CDC Vouchers Scheme 2022, to support Singaporean households in their daily expenses. As the Scheme is open to all Singaporean households regardless of their household income, there is no need for the collection of such data.
As of 30 June 2022, about 1.17million households, or 96% of 1.22 million eligible households, have claimed their 2021 CDC Vouchers. Out of the $122 million under CDC Voucher Scheme 2021, over $98 million (or 80.3%) has been spent. For the 2022 tranche of CDC Vouchers, about 1.02 million households or 83% have claimed their 2022 CDC Vouchers since the launch in less than two months; of which over $49 million (or 40.2% of the total amount claimable) was spent in more than 17,500 participating hawkers and heartland merchants.
We are encouraged by the positive feedback received on the Scheme from Singaporeans, many of whom found the digital vouchers easy to use. The digital CDC Vouchers Scheme uses the RedeemSG platform developed by GovTech, which is a general voucher system that serves various government schemes. Government agencies which are interested to use the system can approach GovTech for further discussion.