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Health Service Estate (Revaluation)

Mr. Gallie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements are being made following the periodic revaluation of the NHS estate which was completed last year. [34099]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: One of the requirements of these valuations is to provide an independent estimate of the net current value of newly built property and for property that has become surplus to requirements since the last independent valuation exercise. This allows new property to be valued on a consistent basis with the existing NHS estate, preventing pricing distortions in the NHS internal market, and for the book value of surplus assets to be adjusted to a level that reflects likely net disposal proceeds. These adjustments require submission of trust debt to the consolidated fund and are technical in nature and involve no loss to the Exchequer. Her Majesty's Treasury has today presented a minute to the House giving particulars and the circumstances of the remission which it has approved in principle.

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 592

Local Authority Spending

Sir Hector Monro: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to cap Scottish local authorities in the current year. [34212]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: None.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of confirmed BSE cases in each of the last 36 months in Scotland. [33308]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson [holding answer 18 June 1996]: The information requested is in the table.

	Confirmed BSE cases
1993
June	182
July	137
August	153
September	106
October	238
November	212
December	182
1994
January	256
February	125
March	218
April	157
May	113
June	151
July	106
August	52
September	97
October	72
November	80
December	89
1995
January	100
February	94
March	75
April	80
May	63
June	34
July	60
August	66
September	52
October	39
November	67
December	36
1996
January	34
February	68
March	53
April	5
May	48

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 593

SOCIAL SECURITY

Expenditure

Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of gross domestic product is currently represented by social security expenditure. [32486]

Mr. Burt: On the basis of the latest available estimates of total expenditure in 1995-96, approximately 13 per cent.

Child Support Agency

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will give a breakdown of the percentage of total incoming telephone calls to the Child Support Agency client helpline which received (a) a personal answer and (b) a recorded answer for each month since September 1994; [31920]

(2) what was the average (i) time to answer and (ii) call handling time on the Child Support Agency national client helpline in each month since September 1994; [31917]

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 594

(3) how many call handling positions are (a) staffed and (b) available on the Child Support Agency national client helpline; [31919]

(4) what percentage of calls were answered within the target time to answer on the Child Support Agency client helpline in each month since September 1994; and what was the target time to answer. [31918]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell [holding answer 12 June 1996]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Steve Heminsley to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 19 June 1996:

In the absence of Miss Chant, the Chief Executive, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Client Help Line.
Two of the questions refer to the "National Client Helpline". This section does not exist as such and appears to be a confusion of two titles: the Client Help Lines (CHL) which are based in the Child Support Agency Centres, and the National Enquiry Line (NEL). I have assumed that the intended reference is to the CHL.
The information requested is shown on the attached table, apart from the average time to answer a call. This information is not available.
When a client calls the CHL during opening hours they will receive a personal answer either immediately or after being held in a queue of calls. Like any other organisation where a great deal of contact with clients is by telephone, clients who do not receive an immediate answer may choose to hang up and ring at a later time, the later contact being successful.
Where, therefore, the attached figures refer to calls offered by BT, this does not represent the total number of people trying to get through. Research has shown that at peak times as many as 90% of the calls being presented can be from clients who are calling again after not getting through earlier. It follows that the figure showing the percentage of calls receiving a personal answer does not equate to the number of people who receive a personal answer. It is not possible to identify the individual number of callers trying to get through.
When the CHL is closed, clients will receive a recorded message provided by the BT National Screening Centre (NSC). Prior to February 1995 the BT NSC facility was used to provide a message for any calls that were unable to reach the CHL queue. This was withdrawn to avoid unnecessary charges incurred by the customer and the Agency. The percentage of calls shown to have received a recorded message since that date is as a consequence substantially lower.
The CHL aims to answer 80% of calls within 20 seconds. The total staffing complement for the CHL is 288.5 posts. The current staff in post figure is 264.5; 15 of whom are still receiving training. Additional staff are being recruited to fill vacancies on the CHL. Not all the Helpline positions are manned at any one time due to flexible working arrangements and leave.

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 593

The total number of calls to the client helpline offered by BT analysed by the percentage of those personally answered, the percentage of calls which received a BT national screening centre message (NSC), the number and percentage of calls that were answered within 20 seconds and the average duration of the calls answered

Date	Total calls offered by BT	Percentage of calls receiving personal answer(45)	Percentage calls answered by NSC	Calls receiving personal answer within 20 seconds	Percentage of calls receiving personal answer within 20 seconds	Average duration of calls answered (min/sec)
September 1994	432,203	27.19	65.35	52,890	45.00	4.37
October 1994	397,372	36.52	64.34	72,834	50.19	4.13
November 1994	479,023	30.29	68.21	70,260	48.42	3.24
December 1994	327,678	34.47	67.53	59,799	52.94	3.49
January 1995	438,484	34.54	50.15	65,293	43.11	5.02
February 1995	339,999	42.25	(46)5.22	83,916	58.41	5.04
March 1995	354,955	44.80	2.12	85,980	54.07	5.03
April 1995	924,117	14.78	1.48	54,553	39.93	5.00
May 1995	359,153	39.94	1.65	82,658	57.63	5.04
June 1995	257,961	55.62	2.37	93,204	64.96	5.10
July 1995	260,179	58.76	3.37	94,613	61.89	5.08
August 1995	348,954	42.06	2.26	73,477	50.06	5.09
September 1995	558,743	27.13	1.84	71,481	47.16	5.11
October 1995	374,765	43.24	3.03	78,902	48.70	5.10
November 1995	612,847	22.11	2.72	47,732	35.22	4.58
December 1995	487,236	24.00	3.00	47,392	40.54	4.52
January 1996	776,796	19.63	1.84	50,412	33.06	4.53
February 1996	518,573	28.56	3.40	55,371	37.38	4.52
March 1996	423,383	38.45	3.46	62,123	38.16	4.44
April 1996	701,051	20.51	2.68	45,382	31.57	4.49




(45) The percentage of calls receiving a personal answer does not equate to the number of people who receive a personal answer.

(46) From February 1995 NSC answered out of hours calls only.

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 595

20 Jun 1996 : Column: 595

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what consideration has been given to the replacement of the Child Support Agency computer system; [33346]

(2) what meetings have taken place involving the chief executive of the Child Support Agency in the last three months where major changes to or replacement of the Child Support Agency computer system have been discussed. [33347]

Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Steve Heminsley to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 19 June 1996:

In the absence of Miss Chant, the Chief Executive, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System (CSCS).
The Agency has recently conducted an Information Systems Strategy review, which included an analysis of any new systems that may be required and examined the likely timetable for the routine replacement or enhancement of existing systems, including CSCS. The findings are still being assessed and refined and the Agency is not yet in a position to announce a decision.
The Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency is involved in numerous meetings to discuss strategic issues for the Agency including CSCS.

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