House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2009 (pt 0021)

30 Apr 2009 : Column 1486W—continued

Departmental Telephone Services

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average (a) length and (b) cost (i) in total and (ii) per minute to callers of calls to each helpline operated by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years. [271115]

Jonathan Shaw: The information is as follows:

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	DWP helpline	Average call length	Total cost (in pence)	Cost per minute (in pence)
0800	Pension Credit Application Line	14.56	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0800	State Pension Application Line	14.40	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0800	Benefit Inquiry Line	3.29	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0845	General Inquiries	6.01	31.22	5.19
0845	Future Pensions	6.52	33.19	5.09
0191	International Pensions	6.54	58.61	8.96
0845	Disability Living Allowance	7.05	35.24	5.0
—⁽²⁾	Carer’s Allowance	6.20	55.98	9.03
0800	Crisis Loans	21.15	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0845	Employment Support Allowance	6.25	32.15	5.14
0845	Incapacity Benefit	4.29	24.57	5.73
0845	Income Support	4.37	24.88	5.70
0845	Jobseeker’s Allowance	5.44	29.02	5.33
0845	Maternity Allowance	5.33	28.59	5.36
0845	Social Fund	2.34	17.04	7.28
0845	Jobseeker Direct	4.22	24.30	5.76
0800	First Contact	18.11	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0845	Employer Direct	6.30	32.34	5.13
0845	National Insurance Number Allocations	5.54	29.40	5.31
0800	Crisis Loan Contingency	12.51	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0800	Crisis Loan Decision	29.51	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0800	National Benefit Fraud Hotline	8.36	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0800	Tax Evasion Hotline	7.22	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
0845	Debt Management	3.21	20.40	6.36
⁽¹⁾ No cost. ⁽²⁾ Various STD numbers. Notes: 1. Figures are taken from 2008-09. Some figures are based on quarterly performance and others on yearly performance. 2, Figures for the past five years not available as they were not recorded in the format requested. 3. To provide an illustration of the cost of calls the table uses BT’s standard landline tariff of 3.864p per minute, with an 8p set up charge. Both amounts are inclusive of VAT. 4. The telecommunications market is very complex, with many different providers, all with their own tariffs and call plans. Recent research by the Department shows that over 80 per cent. of our customers contact the Department using landlines. As BT account for two-thirds of landline provision the table uses BT’s landline tariff to calculate average costs. Only 9 per cent. of BT landline customers do not have a package that may now include free calls to 0845 numbers. 5. Figures for average call length include speed of answer and time spent with an agent.

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average cost to a caller of a mobile telephone call to a helpline operated by his Department; and if he will make representations to mobile telephone network providers to seek to lower these costs. [271116]

Jonathan Shaw: The average cost of a call from a mobile telephone to numbers used by the Department varies widely. It depends on the contract between mobile operators and a caller, the number used—0800 for initial claims and 0845 for changes in circumstances, and the length of the call.

Charges are generally in the 10p to 15p range, but can be up to about 40p for some ‘pay as you go’ contracts. If a mobile caller is concerned about charges, they can ask to be called back.

Following consultation with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Office of Communications (OFCOM), the Department is making representations to mobile telephone operators to reduce and where possible eradicate these costs for its customers. As a first step, it is approaching operators to provide a free phone service for 0800 numbers. BT has already announced that calls to 0800 numbers will be free from 1 May. The Department hopes other operators will follow this lead.

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to
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reduce the cost to callers of a telephone call to its helplines; and if he will provide freephones in Jobcentres for clients to call such helplines. [271117]

Jonathan Shaw: DWP's telephony numbering policy is that:

Calls to claim benefit should be free, so we should use 0800 numbers.

Calls for other reasons, which take less time to resolve, should be charged at a standard rate, so we should use 0845 numbers.

We currently offer to call back customers who request a call back, so that we can absorb the cost of the call.

We are constantly evaluating whether our numbering approach and technology best serves our customers. The telecommunications market is ever changing and increasingly complex and we are keen that our numbering policy is sustainable and continues to meet the needs of our customers. To ensure we maintain a consistently up-to-date view of the situation we are working with Ofcom, our telephony suppliers and with other telephony service providers.

While we encourage customers to access self-service and telephone channels from their own home, for Jobcentre Plus customers, free to use Customer Access Phones with direct dial to our Helplines are available for those who do not have access to a telephone at home. People assessed to be in a vulnerable position due to their personal circumstances, for example customers who are homeless, can also make use of the Customer Access Phones.

In addition, Jobcentre Plus offices have touch screen Jobpoint terminals installed for customers to use to access the same full range of vacancies available through the Jobseeker Direct helpline.

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies received on the cost of telephone calls to their helplines in the latest period for which figures are available. [271119]

Jonathan Shaw: The cost of calls to our helplines is not identified as a separate category in the Department's complaint data. Accordingly the information you request is not available.

Disadvantaged: Finance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the deprived areas funds (a) allocated by his Department in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08 and (b) carried forward to 2008-09 have been spent, broken down by district; and if he will make a statement. [258770]

Mr. McNulty: In January 2007, £19.3 million Deprived Areas Fund was allocated to Jobcentre Plus Districts of which £0.1 million was spent.

In 2007-08, £27 million Deprived Areas Fund was allocated to Jobcentre Plus Districts, of which they spent £16.5 million. For 2008-09, £1 million was allocated to Jobcentre Plus to cover the estimated costs of residual outcomes.

The available information on expenditure by Jobcentre Plus Districts is in the table.

City Strategy Pathfinders were paid a grant of £42.5 million in 2007-08: an original allocation of £32.1 million plus authority to spend an additional £10.4 million. The Department does not hold a breakdown of expenditure by City Strategy Pathfinders at Jobcentre Plus District level.

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30 Apr 2009 : Column 1490W

Deprived Areas Fund expenditure
£
	Jobcentre Plus Districts
	2006-07	2007-08
Ayrshire, Dum, Galloway and Tayside	—	1,121,646
Bedford and Herts	—	308,013
Berks, Bucks and Oxford	—	26,400
Birmingham and Solihull	—	20,996
Cambridge and Suffolk	—	17,266
Central London	—	247,647
Cheshire and Warrington	4,000	195,320
City and East London	—	124,109
Coventry and Warwick	—	411
Cumbria and Lancashire	1,536	715,002
Derbyshire	—	366,347
Devon and Cornwall	—	167,604
Dorset and Somerset	—	99,789
Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders	7,786	49,362
Essex	—	121,134
Forth Valley Fife and Tayside	5,000	396,019
Glasgow	3,936	57,029
Gloucestershire Wiltshire and Swindon	—	112,948
Greater Manchester Central	—	2,419
Greater Manchester East and West	37,362	47,251
Merseyside	—	47,858
Hampshire	—	102,092
Highlands, Isle Clyde Coast and Gram	14,527	644,329
Kent	—	138,339
Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth	—	901,258
Lanarkshire and Dumbarton	—	728,683
Lancashire	—	0
Leicester and Northampton	—	71,049
Lincoln and Rutland	—	199,177
Liverpool and Wirral	—	0
Norfolk	—	229,886
North and East Yorks and the Humber	—	873,793
North and Mid Wales	—	235,374
North and North East London	—	622,438
Northumbria	—	45,667
Nottinghamshire	—	75,894
South East Wales	—	257,278
South London	—	789,355
South Tyne and Wear Valley	—	259,641
South Wales Valleys	175	1,113,393
South West Wales	—	386,246
South Yorkshire	—	0
Staffordshire	—	193,681
Surrey and Sussex	—	304,740
Tees Valley	—	2,087,794
The Black Country	—	0
The Marches	—	380
West London	380	105,149
West of England	—	341,786
West Yorkshire	22,523	1,468,833
Not identified to specific District	—	117,004
Total	97,225	16,537,829

Total (rounded) (£ million)	0.1	16.5

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