Department for Education: Telephone Services

(asked on 16th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department runs a private advice phoneline, separate to his Department's Coronavirus Helpline.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 7th January 2022

There are currently 27 call agents dedicated to the COVID-19 helpline. The Department for Education keeps call volumes and call wait times under continuous review. This enables us to adjust various aspects of the service, including opening hours and the number of call agents needed to meet demand.

The COVID-19 helpline is run by the Department for Education. It is a service delivered through a wider Customer Experience Centre contract overseen by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Call handling is provided by Arvato, an outsourced service provider.

The Department for Education does not run a private helpline separate to the COVID-19 helpline. The department has another helpline for non-COVID specific matters, available by dialling 0370 000 2288 Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm.

The COVID-19 helpline has received 88,149 calls from the beginning of December 2020 to the end of November 2021. The attached table gives the monthly breakdown of volumes.

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