Examination of Witnesses (Questions 100-104)
JOBCENTRE PLUS
26 JANUARY 2005
Q100 Mr Williams: Favourable or unfavourable?
Mr Anderson: It is cheaper if
we use the telephone service. The standard operating model will
implement the telephone service nationally and this variation
should be reduced significantly. I agree that this does not suggest
overall that currently we are being as efficient as we should
be in processing across the country.
Q101 Mr Williams: I do not know how
many this will involve, but I should like to have a list of those
which are in the highest category of each of those three: that
is the Budgeting Loan, the Crisis Loan and the Grant. Could you
get us a note on that within the next couple of weeks? [11]I
am told by the NAO that you are developing a standard operating
model which you hope will produce savings. What can you tell us
about that in the one minute that is left to us?
Mr Anderson: That we intend that
it should both improve the quality of decision making and the
consistency of service available to customers across the country.
Q102 Mr Williams: Over what timescale?
Where is it?
Mr Anderson: It started piloting
at the beginning of December in two districts in Wales; it has
currently been going for six weeks. Based on the evidence we plan
to review it at the end of April and provided we have been successful,
we will then roll it out nationally. I do not yet have a timescale
for rolling it out nationally.
Q103 Mr Williams: Thank you. The
bell has not gone yet, so let me get rid of one more question.
This is paragraph 2.22. When will customers routinely be provided
with the information they need to assess their individual debt
position? I gather that is not available very readily at the moment.
Mr Anderson: It is available to
customers on request currently; we do not send out statements
to customers and there are no immediate plans to send statements
to customers.
Q104 Mr Williams: A final one, following
on from something we had before about collection of debts. I understand
that you are doing less to collect debts from customers who are
off benefit than you are from customers on benefit. Yet the customers
on benefit are obviously the poorer. Why this reverse of what
would seem to be logic?
Mr Anderson: The cost and techniques
for pursuing customers who are off benefit are significantly higher
than for those on benefit. What we are doing is transferring this
activity to the Debt Management service within DWP who are specialist
in this area and they will have a wider range of techniques available
to reclaim this money. We shall be addressing that point.
Mr Williams: Thank you. We have done
what we set out to do: we have just beaten the division bell.
May I thank you very much for your co-operation and look forward
to seeing the detailed answers you promised us; there are quite
a lot of them. I thank my colleagues as well for being so co-operative.
Thank you very much.
11 Ev 15 Back
| 
