Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what use they have made of (1) focus groups, and (2) other qualitative techniques, to improve the functioning of (a) the Pension Service, and (b) the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) makes extensive use of qualitative techniques to improve the functions of its services, extensive examples can be found on gov.uk by searching ‘government/ collections/ research-reports’. With specific reference to improving the functioning of Pension Service – the Department has not undertaken a stand-alone qualitative research project examining this issue in isolation.
The Department does however undertake a regular customer experience survey with a range of DWP services, including state pension customers. The survey includes questions around being treated with respect, speed of service delivered and overall satisfaction. The latest published report can be found on the gov.uk website by searching ‘DWP claimant service and experience survey 2018 to 2019’.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will conduct a review of the template letters used by (1) the Pension Service, and (2) the Department for Work and Pensions, to ensure communications are as clear and comprehensible as possible.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is committed to making template letters clear, understandable and accessible for all customers.
However, we have introduced improved letters for new State Pension customers and we are currently in the process of reviewing and revising Pension Credit letters. As part of these reviews, research is undertaken with a wide range of individuals - and their representatives - who will or have received these benefits. The findings from the research is then used to inform development of the letters which are tested with customers before being introduced for wider use.
The Department’s intention is to gradually update all template letters as part of plans to modernise services. This is a long-term plan due to the complexity and volume of letters.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to improve the customer service provided by the Pension Service across all types of contact, including by (1) the call centres, and (2) the correspondence units.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is committed to delivering high quality customer service in line with Departmental Quality standards. We undertake regular checks on the quality of work undertaken by our staff including monitoring telephone calls and written correspondence.
Feedback from customers on the quality of our service is important to us. We act on this quickly to resolve issues and address areas for improvement.