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1628193

registered interest
date	16/05/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 steps his Department is taking to reduce call waiting times on the benefit enquiry line.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	185260
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2023 answer text <p>DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and DWP is continually working to improve the service that it delivers. The Benefit Enquiry Line (0800 169 0310) freephone service which supports Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseekers Allowance and Income Support, is delivered by multiskilled colleagues, who are able to flex between lines to balance customer wait times. We are aware that the line is currently experiencing high wait times for ESA enquiries, although these can vary throughout the day, and we are working to improve this position.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is investing in a new capability that aims to better route customers to the right offer at the right time. This will reduce the time callers spend listening to a menu of choices and instead invite customers to say why they are calling, at the start of the call.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/05/2023 14:40:28 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1611947

registered interest
date	18/04/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 steps he is taking to increase the (a) efficiency and (b) accessibility of telephone services provided by his Department.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	181490
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2023 answer text <p>As part of DWP’s Service Modernisation programme, the Modernising and Transforming Telephony Project was formed. The project is looking at technologies available to improve and support DWP’s future telephony demand. User research from customers, agents and providers is at the centre of their design and build approach. The first enhancement will involve the introduction of ‘DWP’s Virtual Agent’’ this will support customers through their telephony journey and best determine how to respond or help with their enquiry. The objective of this technology is route calls to the right person or support available at the right time and providing a better overall customer experience than now. Starting with Universal Credit; we then plan to introduce this technology further over the next 3<strong> </strong>years*. In terms of accessibility, this technology has been fully approved to standards required and will not replace, but complement the pre-existing support available for those customers who require it such as Relay UK and Video Relay Service.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 25/04/2023 13:58:54 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1610435

registered interest
date	14/04/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 steps his Department is taking to ensure its telephone lines are accessible to the public without incurring undue delays.
tabling member constituency	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
tabling member printed	Gerald Jones
uin	180568
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2023 answer text <p>DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered which are published quarterly on gov.uk.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 24/04/2023 16:59:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4501 label Biography information for Gerald Jones

1605717

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 to his Department were (a) received and (b) answered by service area in each of the last five years; and what the average wait time for such calls was in each such area in each such year.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Sir Stephen Timms
uin	169179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2023 answer text <p>DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered.</p><p> </p><p>The data below shows how many calls were (a) received, (b) answered and (c) average speed of answer for each service area in each of the last five years. CFCD data is only available for the last 2 years.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Service Area</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Calls Offered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Calls Answered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average Speed of Answer</strong> <strong>hh:mm:ss</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>CFCD</p></td><td><p>2,181,364</p></td><td><p>1,870,726</p></td><td><p>0:06:37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>CMG</p></td><td><p>1,969,296</p></td><td><p>1,579,458</p></td><td><p>0:14:09</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>Disability Services</p></td><td><p>8,031,706</p></td><td><p>5,916,291</p></td><td><p>0:18:47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>Retirement Services</p></td><td><p>9,563,255</p></td><td><p>8,065,542</p></td><td><p>0:06:22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>Universal Credit</p></td><td><p>15,583,662</p></td><td><p>14,504,606</p></td><td><p>0:03:00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-2023</p></td><td><p>Working Age</p></td><td><p>3,848,833</p></td><td><p>2,837,717</p></td><td><p>0:18:55</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Data above covers the period 1/4/22 – 19/3/23 representing the latest available data for the current financial year.</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>CFCD</p></td><td><p>2,266,123</p></td><td><p>2,044,015</p></td><td><p>0:04:32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>CMG</p></td><td><p>1,853,670</p></td><td><p>1,403,894</p></td><td><p>0:17:06</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>Disability Services</p></td><td><p>7,788,882</p></td><td><p>5,883,066</p></td><td><p>0:17:45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>Retirement Services</p></td><td><p>8,489,843</p></td><td><p>6,660,842</p></td><td><p>0:09:11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>Universal Credit</p></td><td><p>18,406,628</p></td><td><p>16,100,254</p></td><td><p>0:05:08</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>Working Age</p></td><td><p>4,682,665</p></td><td><p>3,526,054</p></td><td><p>0:17:35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>CMG</p></td><td><p>1,494,693</p></td><td><p>1,098,457</p></td><td><p>0:14:40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>Disability Services</p></td><td><p>5,800,280</p></td><td><p>4,319,762</p></td><td><p>0:17:11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>Retirement Services</p></td><td><p>7,053,720</p></td><td><p>5,440,280</p></td><td><p>0:08:43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>Universal Credit</p></td><td><p>17,407,587</p></td><td><p>15,870,315</p></td><td><p>0:03:41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>Working Age</p></td><td><p>5,151,549</p></td><td><p>3,884,057</p></td><td><p>0:16:55</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>CMG</p></td><td><p>3,464,411</p></td><td><p>2,750,564</p></td><td><p>0:08:53</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>Disability Services</p></td><td><p>7,703,309</p></td><td><p>6,154,284</p></td><td><p>0:09:58</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>Retirement Services</p></td><td><p>9,338,493</p></td><td><p>7,866,169</p></td><td><p>0:04:52</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>Universal Credit</p></td><td><p>18,588,061</p></td><td><p>16,290,226</p></td><td><p>0:04:45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>Working Age</p></td><td><p>9,901,097</p></td><td><p>7,073,534</p></td><td><p>0:15:48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>CMG</p></td><td><p>3,664,662</p></td><td><p>3,289,464</p></td><td><p>0:01:18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>Disability Services</p></td><td><p>7,395,433</p></td><td><p>6,147,557</p></td><td><p>0:06:50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>Retirement Services</p></td><td><p>9,567,951</p></td><td><p>8,496,762</p></td><td><p>0:03:06</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>Universal Credit</p></td><td><p>13,921,347</p></td><td><p>11,564,360</p></td><td><p>0:06:28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>Working Age</p></td><td><p>17,032,506</p></td><td><p>12,699,993</p></td><td><p>0:11:49</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Debt Recovery Line</strong></p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Debt PAY Line (Inc SERCO)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Year From - To</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Offered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Answered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ASA</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Offered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Answered</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ASA</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2018 – Mar 2019</p></td><td><p>1511241</p></td><td><p>1319552</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>378723</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2019 – Mar 2020</p></td><td><p>2185905</p></td><td><p>1493931</p></td><td><p>17:33</p></td><td><p>476005</p></td><td><p>423857</p></td><td><p>01:20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2020 – Mar 2021</p></td><td><p>1050818</p></td><td><p>833339</p></td><td><p>10:47</p></td><td><p>376987</p></td><td><p>354297</p></td><td><p>01:59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2021 – Mar 2022</p></td><td><p>1768821</p></td><td><p>1598025</p></td><td><p>05:13</p></td><td><p>823237</p></td><td><p>785246</p></td><td><p>01:45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2022 – Feb 2023</p></td><td><p>1604141</p></td><td><p>1390350</p></td><td><p>07:25</p></td><td><p>749320</p></td><td><p>705380</p></td><td><p>03:46</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>NBFH (National Benefit Fraud Hotline) – please note the line was shut down from April 20 to March 22 due to Covid. </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>April 22 to March 23 (WC 13/03) - Internal DWP team. </strong></p><p>Average call waiting time: 6:13</p><p>Total calls received: 97,720</p><p>Total calls answered: 75,137</p><p> </p><p><strong>April 19 to 20 March 20 (Serco)</strong></p><p>Average call waiting time: 38s</p><p>Total calls received: 123,341</p><p>Total calls answered 116,774</p><p> </p><p><strong>Sept 18 to March 19 (Serco)</strong></p><p>Average call waiting time: 37s</p><p>Total calls received: 73,709</p><p>Total calls answered: 69,540</p><p> </p><p><strong>April 2018 to Sept 18 (Capita)</strong></p><p>Average call waiting time: 57s</p><p>Total calls received: 70,959</p><p>Total calls answered: 66,070</p><p> </p><p>Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/03/2023 17:55:41 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1602038

registered interest
date	07/03/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 has withdrawn the use of the (a) SignVideo Relay Service and (b) textphone number.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	160360
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2023 answer text <p>I can confirm that DWP continues to provide Video Relay Service (VRS) to customers who require remote inbound BSL interpretation. All VRS is provided by our current supplier, DA Languages, via SignSolution. We do not use Textphone within the Language Services contract. We no longer use the former supplier ‘SignVideo’, referenced in the question.</p><p /> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 14/03/2023 12:35:24 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1584578

registered interest
date	06/02/2023
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 time is that benefit claimants are on hold when contacting the Department to discuss their claim.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	140231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2023 answer text <p>The table below presents the Departments Management Information for the period February 2022 to January 2023, detailing the average speed to answer (ASA) an inbound call, and the total number of calls answered by month.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ASA (hrs/mins/Seconds)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Calls Answered</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>FEB 22</p></td><td><p>0:07:35</p></td><td><p>3,200,789</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>MAR 22</p></td><td><p>0:07:43</p></td><td><p>3,538,351</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>APR 22</p></td><td><p>0:08:24</p></td><td><p>3,023,486</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>MAY 22</p></td><td><p>0:08:56</p></td><td><p>3,234,247</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>JUN 22</p></td><td><p>0:08:13</p></td><td><p>3,040,241</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>JUL 22</p></td><td><p>0:07:42</p></td><td><p>2,856,595</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AUG 22</p></td><td><p>0:08:53</p></td><td><p>2,968,272</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEP 22</p></td><td><p>0:10:29</p></td><td><p>2,959,967</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>OCT 22</p></td><td><p>0:08:57</p></td><td><p>2,991,097</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>NOV 22</p></td><td><p>0:06:54</p></td><td><p>3,118,883</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>DEC 22</p></td><td><p>0:07:53</p></td><td><p>2,518,952</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>JAN 23</p></td><td><p>0:07:51</p></td><td><p>3,272,460</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /><p><strong>Please note</strong> - this information is derived from the Department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 14/02/2023 13:03:55 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1503496

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans for the Welsh language telephone service to be fully functioning.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	45155
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions has a made a commitment in our Welsh Language Scheme to treat the Welsh and English languages equally and ensure that all services provided for the public in Wales are available in Welsh, as well as English.</p><p> </p><p>All DWP customers are able to access telephony services in Welsh either directly through a dedicated Welsh language helpline or by selecting the required Interactive Voice Response option. Callers to Carer’s Allowance (CA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) helplines who wish to speak to someone in Welsh currently receive a call-back from a Welsh speaker. A Welsh language option will be implemented on these telephone helplines in October 2022.</p><p> </p><p>All our service line telephone numbers are available on GOV.UK.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 07/09/2022 13:55:22 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1469657

registered interest
date	13/06/2022
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 new enquiries her Department’s MP hotline teams dealt with in each month in 2021; what steps her Department is taking to manage the (a) performance and (b) case management of those teams; what steps she is taking to oversee the performance of those MP hotlines; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	16879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2022 answer text <p>Information relating to the numbers of enquiries received by DWP MP hotlines is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>We offer a range of ways for MPs to contact DWP, including through dedicated MP hotlines within Disability Services, CMG, and Retirement Services. Information about how MPs and their staff can best contact us is published on the Parliamentary website and this information is regularly updated. Individual product lines also conduct regular engagement with MPs, including bespoke sessions with MPs and their support teams.</p><p> </p><p>Enquiries received by MP hotlines are managed as part of DWP’s correspondence teams. We closely monitor the performance of these teams and regularly review the resource allocated to this work and where process improvements can be made.</p><p> </p><p>All MP hotlines are regularly checked during operating hours and calls from MPs are either answered directly or allow a voicemail message to be left, which will be picked up and responded to as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 16/06/2022 14:26:21 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1366480

registered interest
date	08/11/2021
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What recent assessment she has made of the contractual performance of Serco plc in delivering call-handling services for her Department.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	904070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2021 answer text <p>DWP regularly reviews performance with Serco to ensure they are meeting contractual responsibilities. During the term of the contract Serco have largely met their Key Performance Indicators, though more recently, competitive labour market conditions and subsequent challenges recruiting agents have led to some short-term performance impacts.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/11/2021 17:50:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

1366926

registered interest
date	08/11/2021
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	Department for Work and Pensions: 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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that people whose voices cannot be understood by her Department's automated helpline systems are redirected to a human operator.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	71373
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2021 answer text <p>All except two of the Freephone lines that DWP provides operate with a menu of options for customers to select the most appropriate one before the call is then routed to an agent. The two lines which operate differently; Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) and the Jobcentre Enquiry Line (JEL) use a function called Natural Language Call Steering which will revert to a menu of options if the customer is not understood or chooses not to speak</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/11/2021 16:54:39 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry