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27 Jan 2009 : Column 441W—continued
Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what records Jobcentre Plus keeps of the (a) number, (b) direction, (c) content and (d) outcome of telephone calls to Jobcentre Plus helplines from members of the public; and if he will make a statement. [245660]
Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what records Jobcentre Plus keeps of the (a) number, (b) direction, (c) content and (d) outcome of telephone calls to Jobcentre Plus helplines from members of the public; and if he will make a statement. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus keeps a record of volumes of calls made to each of the service lines we operate. We do not however keep a detailed record of the content of each call made. We operate over 10 different service lines ranging from benefit claims to job matching and the National Benefit Fraud hotline. Jobcentre Plus does not keep a record of the outcome of each call. However, a recording is taken and retained of all calls received with the exception of those made to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline and the Tax Evasion Hotline. Calls made to these services are not recorded as we aim to protect anonymity.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls were received by Jobcentre Plus call centres in each of the last 24 months; what the average waiting time was for such calls to be dealt with in each month; and how many dropped calls there were in each month. [249279]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 19 January 2009]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked the Acting Chief Executive to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Mel Groves, dated 27 January 2009:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many calls were received by Jobcentre Plus call centres in each of the last 24 months; what the average waiting time was for such calls to be dealt with in each month; and how many dropped calls there were in each month. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus currently has 31 contact centres offering telephony services to our customers.
The attached table provides information on:
the number of calls offered and answered by Jobcentre Plus contact centres for the past 24 months.
the number of ‘abandoned’ calls each month for the past 24 months. This is the number of callers who hang up (terminate the call) whilst waiting in the queue for their call to be answered.
average speed of answer times. This is the average length of time it takes for a call to be answered.
Jobcentre Plus contact centres have only been able to collate information on speed of answer times centrally since July 2008, following the introduction of a new telephony platform which enabled this information to be recorded.
| January 2007 | February 2007 | March 2007 | |
| April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | Aug ust 2007 | Sept ember 2007 | |
| October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | |
| April 2008 | May 2008 | June 2008 | July 2008 | August 2008 | Septem b er 2008 | |
| October 2008 | November 2008 | December 2008 | |
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets have been set for Jobcentre Plus offices in relation to (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance; and if he will make a statement. [246131]
Mr. McNulty: Jobcentre Plus has six national targets; these apply to its whole range of activities including the administration of Jobseeker's Allowance. Employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008 for new customers claiming on the grounds of disability or ill health. Employment and support allowance will be woven into the existing performance framework for Jobcentre Plus.
Job Outcome Target—This is the measure of our success in helping people in to work. It is based on an automated reporting system, which reports movements into work and off benefit by matching Jobcentre Plus and HMRC data.
Customer Service Target—This measures Jobcentre Plus' performance in meeting the standards and commitments set out in the organisation's customer and employer charters.
Monetary Value of Fraud and Error—Contact Centre Directorate has a direct impact on this target by taking appropriate action when fraud is suspected during interaction with the customer and more specifically through the referrals that are generated from calls to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline .
Average Actual Clearance Times—This is measured through the processing of claims within specified average actual clearance times, for Incapacity Benefit, Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance—18 days, 11 days and 12 days respectively.
Employer Engagement Target—This is measured by "mystery shopper" calls made by an independent organisation and is a measure for professionalism and information provided over the phone.
Interventions Delivery Target—This is a measure of the efficiency of Jobcentre Plus in booking customers in for work-focused interviews within set timescales to provide effective employment support and advice.
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether contractors delivering back-to-work services for jobseeker's allowance claimants will refer non-compliant claimants to Jobcentre Plus before or after a decision is made on whether to impose sanctions on the client. [246270]
Mr. McNulty: The provider will raise entitlement and sanction doubts and refer the relevant information to Jobcentre Plus before any decisions on sanctions are made. The provider will be required to try to contact the customer to give them the opportunity to explain the reason for their non-compliance, before passing all relevant information to Jobcentre Plus. Jobcentre Plus will be responsible for handling all subsequent decisions on benefit sanctions and will notify the customer of the outcome. The provider will continue to be responsible for supporting the customer back to work for the balance of their time on Flexible New Deal.
Local Employment Partnerships
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average public expenditure per job provided under the local employment partnerships programme has been since the programme's inception. [248430]
Mr. McNulty: The information is not yet available. The In Work Better Off Impact Assessment (DWP, July 2007) estimated a cost of £400 for each person finding work through this initiative. Actual costs to public expenditure may be lower. People on benefit who find work will gain financially as their in-work income from earnings and tax credits will be higher than their out-of-work income from benefits and tax credits. A full evaluation of local employment partnerships is planned. Reports will be published 2009-11 using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employers in each region have signed-up to local employment partnerships in each quarter since local employment partnerships were established. [248441]
Mr. McNulty: The information is in the following table.
| Numbers of employers signed up to local employment partnerships | |||
| Number of employers( 1) signed up to local employment partnerships: | Total employers signed up to local employment partnerships | ||
| Jobcentre Plus region | by September 2008 | during quarter ended December 2008 | |
| (1) These figures represent workplaces including different branches/outlets of some larger organisations. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data | |||
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