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Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the Jobcentre Plus Customers Charter among (a) customers and (b) staff; and if he will make a statement; [193260]
(2) what steps he will take to (a) improve the quality and volume of information on benefit entitlements available to customers in relation to Jobcentre Plus, (b) provide an improved telephone service and (c) improve staff attitudes; and if he will make a statement; [193263]
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(3) if he will make a statement on the Jobcentre Plus National Customer Satisfaction Survey 2004. [193281]
Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr Paul Holmes, dated 1 November 2004:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply direct to your questions about increasing awareness of the Customers' Charter amongst customers and staff; about the steps being taken to improve the quality and volume of information on benefit entitlements available to customers, providing an improved telephone service and improving staff attitudes and about the National Customer Satisfaction Survey 2004. These are matters which fall within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The current Customers' Charter was developed before the launch of Jobcentre Plus and involved consultation with customers, their representative groups and our staff. Its aim was to make clear the minimum standards of service customers could expect from the new agency.
Awareness of the Charter is high amongst staff. However, the results of the 2003 National Satisfaction Survey showed that less than a third of customers knew about the Charter and understood its purpose. That finding was explored in greater depth in late 2003 when an independent research organisation (GHK) was commissioned to complete a review of the Charter involving customers, their representatives' groups and our staff.
A number of recommendations were made from staff and customers about style, content and the need to raise awareness of our customer service commitments. We are considering these recommendations with a view to making changes to the existing Charter and how we communicate our service standards in 2005.
Jobcentre Plus has robust systems and procedures in place to ensure that both written and verbal information offered to customers on benefit entitlements is accurate. In addition, Jobcentre Plus checks the accuracy of written information it provides to its customers by a 6 monthly review of the content of all leaflets about benefits and services for people of working age. This forms part of an agreement made with the Secretary of State each year.
In April 2004, we conducted research into our customers' requirements of information on work and benefits. As a result of these findings the existing leaflets for working age customers are being replaced with a new range of products, restructured to better meet customer requirements and fit into Jobcentre Plus' business processes. We anticipate that the new leaflets will become available on a rolling basis during 2005.
We have also changed the way we provide information and guidance to our own staff in order to ensure that it is accurate and up to date. We have implemented an electronically based system which all staff can access through their desk top PCs. The guidance is centrally maintained to ensure currency and accuracy and it is structured to provide links to learning material and other relevant guidance.
Jobcentre Plus is establishing a network of modern contact centres to answer calls from customers about claims to benefit and looking for work. When the network is complete, access to Jobcentre Plus by telephone will be simpler and more straightforward.
We are committed to ensuring our staff have the appropriate skills and professional approach when dealing with our customers. We have a range of learning products available on areas such as customer service, equal opportunities, interviewing and communication skills.
Furthermore, we expect managers to play an important part in ensuring that correct attitudes and behaviours are displayed by observing and giving feedback as part of their role. In support of this activity, we are developing a Quality Assurance Framework which defines our customer service standards and the behaviours
The first National Customer Satisfaction Survey was published in September 2003 and acts as a baseline measure against which subsequent surveys can be measured. The Surveys seek to determine customers' levels of satisfaction with the delivery of customer service standards as described in the Customers' Charter.
The 2004 National Customer Satisfaction Survey was undertaken by the Policy Research Institute (PRI), Leeds Metropolitan University. The research showed that overall level of satisfaction with the customer service provided is high, with 80% of respondents reported being very or fairly satisfied with the standard of service they received.
The findings in 2004 are consistent with the 2003 baseline results with improvements showing in a number of areas of service. These include the proportion of customers considering staff attitudes as a reason for complaining which has fallen from 26% in 2003 to 19% in 2004.
We also asked respondents whether they thought service had improved, stayed the same or deteriorated in the past 12 months. 24% felt it had improved, while 69% felt it had stayed the same.
While we are encouraged by these findings, we recognise the importance of continually improving customer service and, in relation to the service standards in the Charter, will continue to focus on improving the ability of staff to determine the needs of customers and provide relevant and appropriate information.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on training provisions for Jobcentre Plus staff. [193279]
Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr. Paul Holmes, 1 November 2004:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the training provision available for Jobcentre Plus staff. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus is committed to the training and development of its entire staff and is an accredited Investor in People.
We provide an extensive range of training provision (over 300 learning products) and delivered over 600,000 learning days during 2003/04, which focused on the knowledge, skills and attitude required to enable our staff to effectively support our customers.
Line Managers play a key role in identifying learning needs through our performance and development system and in supporting the individual to build the knowledge and skills they need.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incorrect payments of jobseeker's allowance were made in each month of the last three years, broken down by (a) age, (b) ethnicity and (c) gender; and if he will make a statement. [193261]
Mr. Pond:
Incorrect payments include both overpayments and underpayments which occur as a result of fraud, customer error and official error. Jobseeker's allowance is paid fortnightly and the following figures therefore refer to fortnightly payments.
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In 200102, we estimate that 3.4 million incorrect JSA payments were made to claimants. The equivalent figure for 200203 was 3.2 million. Figures for 200304 are not yet available.
No breakdown is available by month, age, ethnicity or gender.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will disregard war disablement pension payments when calculating pension credit; and if he will make a statement. [194668]
Malcolm Wicks: War pensions act as an income replacement. Totally ignoring them would mean that income from a war pension would be paid in addition to the guarantee and any savings credit. Consequently, people with a war pension would be treated much more generously under pension credit than other pensioners.
We already recognise the special nature of war pensions and disregard the first £10 of a war pension. Also war pensions are treated as qualifying income for the savings credit so are rewardable under pension
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credit. We believe that war pensioners should receive this generous treatment in view of service they have given.
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