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Customer Helplines

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2001, Official Report, columns 470-71W, on customer helplines, if he will set out the (a) performance of the helplines and (b) targets set for them, for the last year for which figures are available. [148502]

Mr. Rooker: Performance of the helplines and the targets for the last year for which figures are available are as follows:

National Benefit Fraud Hotline

The performance in 1999-2000 against a target of 99 per cent. was 97.9 per cent.

CSA National Enqiry Line

In 1999-2000 the performance of 80 per cent. of calls responded to within 20 seconds was 28.19 per cent. The performance of calls to the Client Helplines (CHL) to be answered first time was 81 per cent. against a target of 80 per cent.

The percentage of customers surveyed on Quality Callbacks to be at least satisfied with the service they have received was 97.29 per cent. against a target of 90 per cent ¹ .

Benefit Enqiry Line

In 1999-2000 the percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds was 100 per cent ² . The percentage of internal calls answered was 85 per cent. against a target of 90 per cent.

War Pensions Helpline

For the year ending 31 December 2000 the percentage of calls answered in 30 seconds was 100 per cent.

Public Enqiry Office

The average percentage of all calls answered in any one month during 1999 was 58.25 per cent. against a target of 65 per cent.

Child Benefit Centre

From September to December 2000 the number of calls to be taken per week was targeted at 42,000. The number of calls taken was 39,410. The performance against target was 92.3 per cent.

DLA/AA Customer Care Helpline

In 1999-2000 the percentage of calls aimed to be answered within 30 seconds was 18 per cent. against a target of 100 per cent ³ .

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To improve performance we have taken on new staff and introduced new technology as part of an on-going programme of planned improvements.

Minimum Income Guarantee Helpline

Winter Fuel Payment Leaflet Order Line

Winter Fuel Payment Helpline

New Deal for Line Parents Helpline

Pensions Info-Line

Mortgage Protection Line

Welfare Reform Order Line

The Inherited Serps Scheme Helpline.

The above helplines are contracted out to commercial organisations through the Central Office of Information. Figures are not calculated on a yearly basis and the information is not therefore available.

Notes:

¹ This followed contact with NEL, Client Helplines (CHL) and Face to Face. ² The Customer Charter states that they aim to answer calls within 30 seconds. Due to technical reasons BEL is unable to say whether or not they met this for the year 1999-2000. ³ DLA/AA Customer Care Helpline. This year's target has been revised to a more realistic 60 seconds and further work is on-going to meet Cabinet office and DSS Call Centre Guidelines, the format of which is at present being finalised. In 1999-2000 Helpline answered 3,963,478 calls, an increase of 12 per cent. on the previous year when 3,513,902 calls were answered. The target of aiming to answer calls within 30 seconds was a BA generic target primarily aimed at switchboards and direct dialled numbers. It is based on the tenet 'answer a call within 5 rings' which takes approximately 30 seconds, but was not designed with call centres in mind.

Departmental Policies (Tooting)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Tooting parliamentary constituency, the effect of his Department's policies and actions since 1 May 1997. [149864]

Mr. Rooker: The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of:

Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;

Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and

Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.

These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000), sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than constituency level data, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Tooting since May 1997.

Measures in our first four Budgets will lift over one million children out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.

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Child Benefit will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from April 2001: nationally about seven million families receive child benefit, and in Tooting 9,377 families benefit.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over-50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 1,044,900; in Tooting the number has reduced from 3,900 to 2,000. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in Tooting from 2,000 to 1,700.

Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty, so we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest fuel bill. This winter, the payment is £200 for households who qualify. Over 11,000 older people in Tooting have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 10,000 pensioners in Tooting will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over-75s, of whom we estimate there are about 4,500 in Tooting. 2,700 pensioner families in Tooting are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.

Other reforms in the pipeline include: the new Pension Credit in 2003, designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of Stakeholder Pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the State Second Pension in April 2002, both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.

Departmental Policies (Pendle)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what initiatives embarked upon since May 1997 have benefited Pendle; and if he will make a statement. [149905]

Mr. Rooker: The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of:

Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;

Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and

Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.

These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000), sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done.

26 Feb 2001 : Column: 548W

Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than constituency level data, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Pendle since May 1997.

Measures in our first four Budgets will lift over one million children out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.

Child Benefit will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from April 2001: nationally about seven million families receive Child Benefit, and in Pendle 11,116 families benefit.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over-50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 1,044,900; in Pendle the number has reduced from 1,500 to 1,300. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in Pendle from 1,600 to 1,400.

Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty, so we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest fuel bill. This winter, the payment is £200 for households who qualify. Over 16,000 older people in Pendle have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 14,200 pensioners in Pendle will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over-75s, of whom we estimate there are about 6,300 in Pendle. 2,800 pensioner families in Pendle are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.

Other reforms in the pipeline include: the new Pension Credit in 2003, designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of Stakeholder Pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the State Second Pension in April 2002, both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.

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