Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which debt collecting agencies the Department for Work and Pensions has ceased to use within the last five years; and what were the reasons in each case.

The DWP has a Debt Market Integrator (DMI) Contract running from 01/04/15 and runs until 20/09/22. Under this contract, Indesser manages several agreements for the provision of debt collection, analytics and litigation services.

The contract was placed in 2015, which is a joint venture between HMT and TDX Group, an Equifax company.

The Framework was formed to provide a single point of access to a wide range of debt management and collection services for government departments and the wider public sector.

DMI presents opportunities to leverage economies of scale across Government giving high power to Government Purchasers. Currently Indesser works with nine government departments: HMRC, DWP, Home Office, DVLA, Student Loans Company, MOJ, Legal Aid Agency, Local Authorities.

Indesser hold direct contracts with debt collection agencies (DCA). Each are subject to the Framework standards. They are managed and monitored for performance by Indesser. Current and Historical DCA information and further details of DWP influence on selection/removal of DCAs are outlined below.

List of current DMI DCAs that provide services to DWP

• Advantis Credit Limited
• BPO Collections Limited
• CCS Collect – (full name Commercial Collection Services Limited)
• Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited
• Resolvecall Limited

Any previous DCA providers over the last 5 years

• Drydens Limited – DCA chose to exit the framework
• Akinika Limited – DCA chose to exit the consumer debt collection market
• Fredrickson International Limited – DCA chose to exit the consumer debt collection market

DWP influence on the selection of DCA providers

DWP does not directly influence the selection of DCA providers that provide services to them. The DWP panel was selected by TDX Group and Indesser based on the characteristics of the DWP debt and their suitability to collect the debt and the value for money offered by the DCA.

Whilst DWP do not directly influence the selection of the panel, any changes to the DCA panel will be managed through the Contract change control process therefore DWP would need to approve any changes.

DWP influence on the removal of any DCA providers

DWP do not influence the removal of DCA providers. The panel is closely monitored on a series of performance metrics and where a DCA fails to meet the framework standards they could be removed from a particular client’s panel.

Whilst DWP do not directly influence the removal of a DCA from their panel, the change would be managed through the Contract change control process therefore DWP would be required to approve the change.