Universal Credit: Telephone Services

(asked on 13th September 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times on the universal credit telephone line in advance of a potential increase in the volume as calls arising from full service rollout.


Answered by
Damian Hinds Portrait
Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 9th October 2017

The Universal Credit Full Service was expanded to an additional 29 Jobcentre sites in July and rollout will continue this month, with new claims and changes of circumstance reported online in the vast majority of all cases. All customers have an online account, online statement and journal for interacting with their dedicated Case Manager and Work Coach.

We endeavour to resolve all enquiries from our customers at the point of contact, whether that be face-to-face, online, or on the phone. The percentage of calls being received as a proportion of our total caseload has been steadily falling this year, as customers interact more online, and we will continue to invest to make more functionality available online – for example, customers can now update their Claimant Commitments online before and after their meetings with the Work Coach, helping record job search as customers take the next steps forward into work.

Every week we match the required capacity and resources to our telephony forecast to ensure we meet demand and deliver a good service across our channels. This capacity is organised to scale up in line with new claims as the service expands further to ensure a good customer service and experience.

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