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810509

registered interest
date	21/12/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 118690, on Universal Credit: Telephone Services, what the evidential basis is to support the position that people abandoned calls to use the online service; what the cost to the public purse was of abandoned calls in each month since September 2016; and what the average length of abandoned calls was in that time period.
tabling member constituency	Oldham West and Royton
tabling member printed	Jim McMahon
uin	121092
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/01/2018 answer text <p>Universal Credit Full Service is a digital service designed to enable customers to manage their own data and account online at a time which is convenient for them. As well as giving them access to online statements for payment information, and their journal for interacting with their dedicated Case Manager and Work Coach, customers are able to report changes online when they would previously have called us.</p><p> </p><p>We do not currently hold any management information that specifically correlates abandoned calls to use of online services. However, as of November 2017, the percentage of customers claiming online is over 95%, and those reporting changes online is now over 80%. This type of channel shift is helping reduce the calls we receive as a percentage of the caseload: Universal Credit Full Service calls per claim ratio has decreased from 2.7 in April 2016 to 1.0 by the end of October 2017.</p><p> </p><p>There was no cost to the public purse for abandoned calls as this forms part of the contract we have with BT, and following the introduction of the free phone numbers to Universal Credit helplines in November 2017 there will no longer be a cost to the customer.</p><p> </p><p>Between September 2016 and October 2017 the average length of time before a call was voluntarily abandoned by the Universal Credit Full Service customer was 5 minutes 19 seconds.</p><p> </p><p>Notes –</p><p> </p><p>1) The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</p><p> </p><p>2) Data is not yet available for November 2017.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 08/01/2018 12:37:18 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4569 label Biography information for Jim McMahon

806701

registered interest
date	14/12/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the universal credit helpline for people who work between 8am and 6pm.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	119777
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2017 answer text <p>The Universal Credit Full Service is expanding with 235 Jobcentres and 25 Service Centres live by the end of December 2017. All customers have an on-line account, on-line statement and journal for interacting with their dedicated Case Manager and Work Coach. New claims and changes of circumstance are reported on-line in the vast majority of all cases.</p><p> </p><p>As previously announced, Universal Credit freephone numbers were implemented from the end of November 2017.</p><p> </p><p>We are keen to resolve all enquiries from our customers at the point of contact, whether that be face-to-face, on-line, or on the phone. The Freephone lines are available 50 hours a week, which should mean Universal Credit claimants in full-time work have the scope to make a call. The percentage of calls being received as a proportion of our total caseload has been steadily falling this year, as customers interact more on-line.</p><p> </p><p>Every week we match the required capacity and resources to our telephony forecast to ensure we meet demand and deliver a good service across our channels. This capacity is organised to scale up in line with new claims as the service expands further to ensure good customer service and experience.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 21/12/2017 14:32:12 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

804488

registered interest
date	11/12/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls made to the universal credit helpline in each month from September 2016 to date were abandoned.
tabling member constituency	Oldham West and Royton
tabling member printed	Jim McMahon
uin	118690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p><strong>T</strong>he numbers of calls received and abandoned are set out in the table below.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Calls received</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Of which, calls abandoned</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>September 2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>752931</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>107647</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>October 2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>672617</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>74729</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>November 2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>707690</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>91348</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>December 2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>607582</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>60856</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>January 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>860875</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>105893</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>February 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>779433</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>102557</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>March 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>894979</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>84618</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>April 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>692843</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>51493</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>May 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>751837</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>55915</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>June 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>763052</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>96626</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>July 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>754367</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>99094</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>August 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>790936</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>124427</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>September 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>780989</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>121939</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>October 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>849779</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>123556</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The ratio of calls relative to caseload has fallen from 1.8 calls relative to caseload in September 2016 to 1.3 calls per case in October 2017. That reflects our success in encouraging claimants to deal with us on-line. The numbers of calls abandoned reflects that also claimants call and realise, through our messaging that they can deal with their enquiry on-line and do not need to continue with their call.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/12/2017 16:09:08 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4569 label Biography information for Jim McMahon

793069

registered interest
date	21/11/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an emergency telephone line will be available over the Christmas period to allow new universal credit claimants to apply for an advance before their first payment.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	114854
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2017 answer text <p>The Department plans to advance the timing of all payments where people would be impacted by bank holidays, to ensure they have money over the festive period, also supporting those customers who request an advance payment during this time and minimising any impact on claimants for the brief period when the Universal Credit helpline is closed. This includes the careful assessment of technical system and banking system availability to ensure successful payments can be made. This year we have enhanced the functionality and added a faster payment contingency function in Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 29/11/2017 17:26:09 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

793074

registered interest
date	21/11/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the MP hotline will be available over the Christmas period for urgent universal credit casework inquiries.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	114859
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2017 answer text <p>For MPs who have issues with constituents who are full service Universal Credit claimants, the Complaints Resolution Team route is available. We have recently confirmed that claimants do not need to give consent for MPs and their caseworkers to raise concerns. It is also important to remember that, in the full service, Universal Credit claimants, Universal Credit service centre colleagues and Universal Credit work coaches have access to a claimant’s online journal, which holds the details of a claim. In effect, any of these Universal Credit colleagues can provide the service that an MPs’ hotline would deliver.</p><p> </p><p>We are also currently writing to MPs as the full service goes live in their constituency. These letters explain the implicit consent arrangements for MPs. The letters also give the telephone number and email address of the district manager in the constituency so that MPs can contact district managers if there are urgent constituent cases that need attention. The letter also mentions that the jobcentre will be contacting the MP to arrange a visit to the jobcentre. This visit is another opportunity for MPs’ offices to build the relationship with their local Complaints Resolution Team.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 29/11/2017 17:29:11 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

771354

registered interest
date	16/10/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 12 October 2017 to the Leader of the House, Official Report, column 469, if he will remove the charge for telephone calls to his Department on universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	107750
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2017 answer text <p>As announced by the Secretary of State at the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 18 October 2017, DWP plans to change the Universal Credit helpline to a freephone number over the next month.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 107919 question first answered 19/10/2017 14:07:33 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

771623

registered interest
date	16/10/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of February 2016 to Question 25760, what advice he gives to applicants needing to make a telephone call to discuss their Universal Credit claim but not able to afford to use his Department's helpline.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	107919
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2017 answer text <p>As announced by the Secretary of State at the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 18 October 2017, DWP plans to change the Universal Credit helpline to a freephone number over the next month.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 107750 question first answered 19/10/2017 14:07:33 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

770021

registered interest
date	13/10/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average duration of a phone call was to the universal credit helpline in each of the last three months.
tabling member constituency	Eastbourne
tabling member printed	Stephen Lloyd
uin	107683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2017 answer text <p>Data to indicate the average duration of calls to the Universal Credit helpline for each of the last 3 months is presented in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>Please note:</p><ol><li>The average (full) call duration on the Universal Credit Helpline indicated in the data table below includes the average amount of time that calls were waiting in a telephony queue before being answered by a Customer Adviser and the average amount of time that Customer Advisers were talking to customers on inbound calls.</li><li>The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</li></ol><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Average Call Duration (in minutes and seconds)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-17</p></td><td><p>12:14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-17</p></td><td><p>13:02</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-17</p></td><td><p>13:12</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/10/2017 10:47:12 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	3968 label Biography information for Stephen Lloyd

769766

registered interest
date	12/10/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department accrues any income from the universal credit helpline.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	107375
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2017 answer text <p>I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 16 October 2017 to question <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&amp;max=20&amp;questiontype=AllQuestions&amp;house=commons%2clords&amp;uin=107197" target="_blank">107197</a></p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/10/2017 12:53:09 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

769773

registered interest
date	12/10/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest recorded call was to the universal credit helpline in each of the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	107512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2017 answer text <p>Average call duration data is available in respect of the Universal Credit helpline for each of the last 12 months. However, data to indicate the shortest and longest recorded call durations is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Please note:</p><ol><li>The average call duration on the Universal Credit Helpline indicated in the data table below includes time in a telephony queue awaiting answer and the time spent talking to a customer adviser.</li><li>The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.</li></ol><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Average Call Duration (in minutes and seconds)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct-16</p></td><td><p>11:20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov-16</p></td><td><p>12:20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec-16</p></td><td><p>11:23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-17</p></td><td><p>12:01</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb-17</p></td><td><p>12:40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-17</p></td><td><p>11:08</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-17</p></td><td><p>10:25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May-17</p></td><td><p>10:10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun-17</p></td><td><p>11:36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-17</p></td><td><p>12:14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-17</p></td><td><p>13:02</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-17</p></td><td><p>13:12</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data Sources: BT OPMIS and NGCC</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 20/10/2017 13:03:27 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds previous answer version 15386 answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams