Outsourcing: DWP Telephone Services

Baroness Sherlock Excerpts

Tuesday 30th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

Several reviews take place in the course of a contract to assess performance against key performance indicators. Performance is reported and monitored daily and reviewed monthly during formal business unit reviews. These are led by DWP contract management teams. Wider delivery considerations to inform efficiency and effectiveness are reviewed on an annual basis through financial management reviews and quarterly formal reviews.

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, on 4 November, in a Written Answer, the Minister for Pensions gave figures for call-answering rates on DWP helplines from January to September. These suggest that helplines managed to answer 90% of calls to do with debt payments, but, every month, a quarter of calls on child maintenance and 40% of calls on state pension changes went unanswered. Does the Minister think that is acceptable?

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

No—nothing below the performance indicators is acceptable. That is why we continually challenge the delivery of all our systems.