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<p> </p><p>Any failure against the contractual critical service levels may result
in <br>deductions against their submitted invoices. In the event of continuous and
<br>unacceptable failures the Department has the ability to terminate the contract.<br><br>The
performance of Teleperformance as with all of our contracts is subject to <br>close
Home Office scrutiny. The governance processes include regular meetings <br>at all
levels, from local operational teams up to senior official levels, to <br>allow in-depth
reviews of performance against the service standards set out in <br>the contract,
and to provide an escalation route to resolve any issues that may <br>arise. We also
expect suppliers to provide continuous improvement in delivery <br>of customer services
over the course of the contract, which is also monitored <br>through these processes.<br><br>The
Department withheld payment of the contractual transitional payment until <br>transition
was complete in each country where Teleperformance operates. This <br>has now been
has now been approved for payment in countries where visa<br>application centres (VACs)
are operational but withheld in locations still to <br>be transitioned. Ongoing contractual
payments will be subject to the service <br>credit process outlined above.<br><br>The
data required to judge performance against contractual service standards is <br>not
yet available. We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to <br>delays
in processing at the identified visa application centres since they took <br>over
this service. The Home Office is currently collating data on complaints <br>for the
period since Teleperformance commenced operations and it is not <br>available for
publication. <br><br>UK Visas & Immigration has worked closely with Teleperformance
from the point <br>at which contracts were awarded to prepare for live operations,
including the <br>summer peak. Annual and monthly application volumes and forecast
figures for <br>2014 were provided to Teleperformance as part of the tender process
and local <br>discussions have taken place to determine the number of appointment
slots <br>available. Opening hours have been extended and appointment availability
has <br>been increased in a number of locations to prepare for the summer period.
Where <br>VACs are open every day, the availability of appointment slots is continually
<br>monitored, with further measures being taken if appointments are consistently
<br>fully booked.</p><p> </p>
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