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30 Mar 2006 : Column 1193W—continued

Call Centres

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 1006W, on call centres, if he will break down the figures by each individual benefit or
 
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function, including (a) the Child Support Agency, (b) the Pensions Agency and (c) disability living allowance/attendance allowance; and if he will make a statement. [35726]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 12 December 2006]: The information requested is in the following table:
Table 1

Helplines (see table 2 for explanations of these measures and calculations)    2003–042004–052005–06
CSA NHL CSCS (old scheme)
Number of call centres777
Number of calls handled by an adviser2,525,3922,221,572965,393
Number of calls abandoned1,027,645388,726108,985
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)28.814.910.1
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone483,42691,8992678
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)13.03.60.3
CS2 (new scheme)
Number of calls handled by an adviser891,3542,018,1221,223,222
Number of calls abandoned246,143405,538152,506
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)21.616.711
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone49,82336,28618755
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)2.51.21.2
DLA/AA
Number of call centres111
Number of calls handled by an adviser3,917,6134,425,9202,759,508
Number of calls abandoned940,799979,045186,879
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)19.418.16.3
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone19,978,01618,526,57822,403
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)80.077.40.75
BEL
Number of call centres111
Number of calls handled by an adviser1,247,7251,077,290488,797
Number of calls abandoned341,420375,069199,054
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)21.525.828.9
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone907,1941,070,533414,738
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)36.342.437.6
ED
Number of call centres11119
Number of calls handled by an adviser1,796,0771,727,6851,067,338
Number of calls abandoned101,35984,10236,608
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)5.344.643.31
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone000
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)000
JSD/FC
Number of call centres(21)91(22)53(23)39
Number of calls handled by an adviser7,243,99410,349,7197,252,995
Number of calls abandoned311,8972,612,8421,807,237
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)4.120.119.9
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone000
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)000
TPS
Number of call centres3536 down to 3232 down to 29
Number of calls handled by an adviser11,815,73216,661,0064,907,413
Number of calls abandoned958,0881,496,724207,806
Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage)7.48.24
Number of calls receiving the engaged tone(24)567,103283,93450,872
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage)021.1


(21) Jobcentre Plus had 91 sites taking Jobseeker Direct calls including a large number of small teams within Jobcentres.
(22) In 2004–05 Jobcentre Plus started off with 53 sites and were down to 39 sites by the end of the year.
(23) In 2005–06 Jobcentre Plus started of with 39 sites and are now down to 31 sites (this includes three Employer Direct sites who are taking Jobseeker Direct calls).
(24) The network figure for calls receiving the engaged tone 2003–04 is not calculated in the same format as the other two periods due to the relevant data not being available.



 
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Table 2

MetricExplanation
Number of calls handled by an adviserThis measure is a count of the total number of calls that
were answered by agents
Number of calls abandonedThis measure identifies the total number of calls that were abandoned in the queue before being answered by
an agent
Proportion of calls
abandoned
Calculation: Total abandoned calls divided by total calls presented to the Centre (excluding calls receiving the
engaged tone) x100
Number of calls receiving
the engaged tone
This measure is a count of the number of callers receiving
the engaged tone
Proportion of calls receiving the engaged toneCalculation: Calls receiving the engaged tone divided by total calls (i.e. calls answered, abandoned, engaged tone, etc)
x 100

 
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Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) average speed of response to calls and (b) proportion of failed calls was for each public call centre operated by or on behalf of his Department in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the staff turnover was in each call centre in the same period. [51717]

Mrs. McGuire: The information that is available is shown in the table. All data relates to November 2005.

Jobcentre Plus Direct, the National Benefit Fraud Hotline and the Pension Service do not collate information on the average speed of answering calls. The data provided for these helplines (x per cent. of calls answered in y seconds) is the closest comparable indicator.

Failed calls are those that are not presented to the contact centre due to technical reasons, such as insufficient line capacity.
Helpline(a) Average speed of answer in seconds (percentage)(b) Failed calls
(percentage)
(c) Staff turnover
(percentage)
Pensions Direct55.3 in 30 seconds0.94(25)
Pension Information Orderline94.6 in 30 seconds1.66(26)n/a
Pension Guide Orderline96.5 in 30 seconds0(26)n/a
Pension Credit Application Line (Outsourced to Ventura)45.6 in 30 seconds1.12(26)n/a
Pension Centres82.6 in 30 seconds0.64(27)1.26
Retirement Pension Teleclaims90.8 in 30 seconds0(27)1.52
Retirement Pension Forecasting Team50.6 in 30 seconds0.74n/a
Winter Fuel Helpline92.3 in 30 seconds0(27)0.27
International Pension Centre67.8 in 30 seconds00.54
Deficiency Notices79.1 in 30 seconds0n/a
Jobcentre Plus Direct—Jobseeker Direct79.6 in 20 secondsn/a(28)1.97
Jobcentre Plus Direct—First Contact75.1 in 20 secondsn/a
National Benefit Fraud Hotline91.72 in 3 secondsn/a(29)n/a
Employer Direct12n/a2.16
CSA National Helpline5221.50
Debt Management30.750.451.36
Benefit Enquiry Line86433.15
Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance101250.83




n/a = Not available.
(25) Included in Retirement Pensions Teleclaims figures, a separate figure is not available.
(26) These helplines are provided by an external contractor and are not staffed by DWP employees.
(27) This represents the percentage of whole-time equivalent staff who left the Pension Service by resignation or termination only.
(28) Information is not available separately for first contact and jobseeker direct, therefore a total figure has been provided for Jobcentre Plus Direct.
(29) We do not have any information on staff turnover for NBFH, however we are taking steps to ensure this data is available in the future.


Child Support Agency

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, if he will list the identified IT defects in the Child Support Agency computer system; and when he expects each to be resolved. [54454]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 30 March 2006:


 
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Category of business processMajor process areaTotal defects
Receiving the application57
Reactive migration4
Getting information33
Making the calculation23
Cancel/withdraw case5
Getting money flowingArranging payment/compliance80
Receiving and allocating money53
Make payments out18
Accounting and client fund reporting0
Establishing collections0
Maintaining complianceMaintaining and reviewing customer data59
Debt management14
Handoffs and controlsHandoff/auxiliary processes6
Work management and controls5
Data and file management14
Contacting and informing our clientsInform clients and find information25
Customer service complaints0
Migrate and convertMigration and conversion3
Business tools, notifications and technical issuesBusiness tools20
Technical60
Notification27
Total506

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on the impact on child poverty of the failure to collect maintenance payments through the Child Support Agency (CSA); and what immediate plans he has to improve CSA collection mechanisms. [60920]

Mr. Plaskitt: The failure of non-resident parents to face up to their responsibilities and pay maintenance causes real hardship for their children. The Child Support Agency (CSA) does have powers to enforce payment of maintenance but this is an area where the Agency has not been sufficiently effective. The issue of enforcement appears regularly in correspondence we receive from parents and their representatives. Enforcement will be considered by Sir David Henshaw as part of his work to redesign the child support system.

In the shorter term we have announced plans to improve collection of maintenance in the agency's operational improvement plan. The agency will be using deduction from earnings orders earlier and more frequently for those who either default on other payment arrangements or indicate that they are unlikely to pay. The agency will more actively manage higher risk cases to ensure payments are made and make more use of information held by HMRC and credit reference agencies to track down those who owe money for their children.

The CSA will employ external debt collection agencies to recover outstanding debt and use their best practice to improve its own collection activity. Over 600 more staff will be trained and effective within the next year and staffing dedicated to enforcement activity quadrupled over the period of the plan. For those parents who continue to avoid paying maintenance we will significantly increase the number brought before the courts, securing debt through liability orders and seizing
 
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of assets where appropriate. We will also work with the media and stakeholders to develop a campaign to make clear that failing to pay maintenance has real and lasting consequences for children.

The cumulative effect of all of these measures will lead to more maintenance being paid and more children lifted out of poverty.


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