Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have expanded the capacity of the Department of Work and Pensions to provide local support to refugees who, as a consequence of the backlog of applications being cleared, have recently been given asylum.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coaches have access to information on a range of services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants, including refugees. We also have access to a range of translation services to assist, should a claimant need support to overcome any language barriers.
Work Coaches receive training to help them build supportive relationships with claimants, including refugees, encouraging them to openly discuss any barriers, concerns, or problems as they emerge.
Work Coaches will provide tailored employment support to meet their customer’s needs. They utilise a wide range of tools to ensure that we are providing intensive employment support to these customers. This includes the use of Flexible Support Fund, Sector based work academy programme, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Jobs Fairs, collaboration with local partners and Group Information Sessions.
Claimants can also give permission to share their UC account journal with support workers. The opportunity to combine face to face contact with on-line support has helped alleviate some of the communication barriers within legacy benefits which were traditionally more reliant on telephone and written forms of communications. Work Coaches can also use the on-line account to remind claimants of any information needed in order to ensure that their claim is processed smoothly.
More generally, we are increasing capacity in our Decision Making teams, during both this and the next quarter, to help meet demand for benefit decisions.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have expanded the capacity of the Department of Work and Pensions to provide local support to refugees who have been given asylum recently as a result of the backlog of applications being cleared.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coaches have access to information on a range of services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants, including refugees. We also have access to a range of translation services to assist, should a claimant need support to overcome any language barriers.
Work Coaches receive training to help them build supportive relationships with claimants, including refugees, encouraging them to openly discuss any barriers, concerns, or problems as they emerge.
Work Coaches will provide tailored employment support to meet their customer’s needs. They utilise a wide range of tools to ensure that we are providing intensive employment support to these customers. This includes the use of Flexible Support Fund, Sector based work academy programme, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Jobs Fairs, collaboration with local partners and Group Information Sessions.
Claimants can also give permission to share their UC account journal with support workers. The opportunity to combine face to face contact with on-line support has helped alleviate some of the communication barriers within legacy benefits which were traditionally more reliant on telephone and written forms of communications. Work Coaches can also use the on-line account to remind claimants of any information needed in order to ensure that their claim is processed smoothly.
More generally, we are increasing capacity in our Decision Making teams, during both this and the next quarter, to help meet demand for benefit decisions.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that PIP assessors take into account the hidden symptoms of multiple sclerosis when making their assessments; and what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the PIP assessment process on the mental health of people with multiple sclerosis.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Assessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are carried out by qualified health professionals (HPs), who receive training in assessing the impacts of a variety of disabilities including multiple sclerosis (MS), to ensure they are familiar with the clinical aspects of the conditions and their impact on daily functions.
HPs have access to Condition Insight Reports (CIRs) which are developed specifically to enable them to gain further insight into clinical and functional information, relating to specific conditions. Both Capita and Independent Assessment Services (IAS), who conduct PIP assessments on behalf of the department, hold CIRs on MS, which have been produced for them by representative groups.
DWP recognises that attending an assessment can be a stressful experience, which is why claimants are not invited to attend a face-to-face, telephone or video assessment where there is sufficient paper evidence to determine benefit entitlement.
Companions are also encouraged to attend and can play an active role in the assessment to support individuals or help them manage any anxiety they may feel.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on benefit help and advice to claimants who are losing access to the internet as a result of switching off 2G and 3G connections.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP seeks to identify individuals who have complex user needs and/or require additional support to enable them to access our benefits and services, this includes those who do not have internet access.
As part of our commitment to make services accessible to all customers, the Department provides computers for customer use in Jobcentres which have assistive technology and provide a range of peripheral items in each Jobcentre such as alternative keyboards.
We have improved access to our Wi-Fi services in all Jobcentres, allowing customers to use their own personal devices if they prefer, to access internet services, and Staff will signpost people to other community resources (libraries and Citizens Advice) which can also provide advice and internet access points.
If an eligible claimant presents to a Work Coach that connectivity to the internet is causing a barrier to employment then the Work Coach has the discretion to utilise Flexible Support Fund to remove that barrier as they would any other barrier to work. In the case of internet connectivity, they would explore all available options, i.e. social tariffs, dongles, and pre-paid broadband routers and connections available from providers. Whichever is the most suitable then the Work Coach would either sign-post in the case of social tariffs or utilise FSF to pay for other options if appropriate.
Our Jobcentres also provide support and advice about entitlement to benefits and will signpost customers to appropriate information to help them. The Department provides telephone service lines that people can call to make their claims to benefit and to operate their claims.
In addition, customers can access Help to Claim which provides tailored practical support to anyone who needs it. It enables individuals to make a new claim to Universal Credit and is also available to those moving from legacy benefits because of managed migration, voluntary moves, or a change of circumstances.
Help to Claim support is being delivered independently by Citizens Advice, in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland, with support provided through telephony and digital channels. Those individuals who are unable to access support via these channels can go to their local jobcentre, where staff will identify the right support to meet their needs.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce call waiting times on the benefit enquiry line.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and DWP is continually working to improve the service that it delivers. The Benefit Enquiry Line (0800 169 0310) freephone service which supports Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseekers Allowance and Income Support, is delivered by multiskilled colleagues, who are able to flex between lines to balance customer wait times. We are aware that the line is currently experiencing high wait times for ESA enquiries, although these can vary throughout the day, and we are working to improve this position.
The Department is investing in a new capability that aims to better route customers to the right offer at the right time. This will reduce the time callers spend listening to a menu of choices and instead invite customers to say why they are calling, at the start of the call.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase the (a) efficiency and (b) accessibility of telephone services provided by his Department.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of DWP’s Service Modernisation programme, the Modernising and Transforming Telephony Project was formed. The project is looking at technologies available to improve and support DWP’s future telephony demand. User research from customers, agents and providers is at the centre of their design and build approach. The first enhancement will involve the introduction of ‘DWP’s Virtual Agent’’ this will support customers through their telephony journey and best determine how to respond or help with their enquiry. The objective of this technology is route calls to the right person or support available at the right time and providing a better overall customer experience than now. Starting with Universal Credit; we then plan to introduce this technology further over the next 3 years*. In terms of accessibility, this technology has been fully approved to standards required and will not replace, but complement the pre-existing support available for those customers who require it such as Relay UK and Video Relay Service.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its telephone lines are accessible to the public without incurring undue delays.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered which are published quarterly on gov.uk.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department were (a) received and (b) answered by service area in each of the last five years; and what the average wait time for such calls was in each such area in each such year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered.
The data below shows how many calls were (a) received, (b) answered and (c) average speed of answer for each service area in each of the last five years. CFCD data is only available for the last 2 years.
Financial Year | Service Area | Calls Offered | Calls Answered | Average Speed of Answer hh:mm:ss |
2022-2023 | CFCD | 2,181,364 | 1,870,726 | 0:06:37 |
2022-2023 | CMG | 1,969,296 | 1,579,458 | 0:14:09 |
2022-2023 | Disability Services | 8,031,706 | 5,916,291 | 0:18:47 |
2022-2023 | Retirement Services | 9,563,255 | 8,065,542 | 0:06:22 |
2022-2023 | Universal Credit | 15,583,662 | 14,504,606 | 0:03:00 |
2022-2023 | Working Age | 3,848,833 | 2,837,717 | 0:18:55 |
Data above covers the period 1/4/22 – 19/3/23 representing the latest available data for the current financial year. | ||||
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2021-2022 | CFCD | 2,266,123 | 2,044,015 | 0:04:32 |
2021-2022 | CMG | 1,853,670 | 1,403,894 | 0:17:06 |
2021-2022 | Disability Services | 7,788,882 | 5,883,066 | 0:17:45 |
2021-2022 | Retirement Services | 8,489,843 | 6,660,842 | 0:09:11 |
2021-2022 | Universal Credit | 18,406,628 | 16,100,254 | 0:05:08 |
2021-2022 | Working Age | 4,682,665 | 3,526,054 | 0:17:35 |
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2020-2021 | CMG | 1,494,693 | 1,098,457 | 0:14:40 |
2020-2021 | Disability Services | 5,800,280 | 4,319,762 | 0:17:11 |
2020-2021 | Retirement Services | 7,053,720 | 5,440,280 | 0:08:43 |
2020-2021 | Universal Credit | 17,407,587 | 15,870,315 | 0:03:41 |
2020-2021 | Working Age | 5,151,549 | 3,884,057 | 0:16:55 |
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2019-2020 | CMG | 3,464,411 | 2,750,564 | 0:08:53 |
2019-2020 | Disability Services | 7,703,309 | 6,154,284 | 0:09:58 |
2019-2020 | Retirement Services | 9,338,493 | 7,866,169 | 0:04:52 |
2019-2020 | Universal Credit | 18,588,061 | 16,290,226 | 0:04:45 |
2019-2020 | Working Age | 9,901,097 | 7,073,534 | 0:15:48 |
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2018-2019 | CMG | 3,664,662 | 3,289,464 | 0:01:18 |
2018-2019 | Disability Services | 7,395,433 | 6,147,557 | 0:06:50 |
2018-2019 | Retirement Services | 9,567,951 | 8,496,762 | 0:03:06 |
2018-2019 | Universal Credit | 13,921,347 | 11,564,360 | 0:06:28 |
2018-2019 | Working Age | 17,032,506 | 12,699,993 | 0:11:49 |
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| Debt Recovery Line | Debt PAY Line (Inc SERCO) | |||
Year From - To | Offered | Answered | ASA | Offered | Answered | ASA |
Apr 2018 – Mar 2019 | 1511241 | 1319552 | N/A | N/A | 378723 | N/A |
Apr 2019 – Mar 2020 | 2185905 | 1493931 | 17:33 | 476005 | 423857 | 01:20 |
Apr 2020 – Mar 2021 | 1050818 | 833339 | 10:47 | 376987 | 354297 | 01:59 |
Apr 2021 – Mar 2022 | 1768821 | 1598025 | 05:13 | 823237 | 785246 | 01:45 |
Apr 2022 – Feb 2023 | 1604141 | 1390350 | 07:25 | 749320 | 705380 | 03:46 |
NBFH (National Benefit Fraud Hotline) – please note the line was shut down from April 20 to March 22 due to Covid.
April 22 to March 23 (WC 13/03) - Internal DWP team.
Average call waiting time: 6:13
Total calls received: 97,720
Total calls answered: 75,137
April 19 to 20 March 20 (Serco)
Average call waiting time: 38s
Total calls received: 123,341
Total calls answered 116,774
Sept 18 to March 19 (Serco)
Average call waiting time: 37s
Total calls received: 73,709
Total calls answered: 69,540
April 2018 to Sept 18 (Capita)
Average call waiting time: 57s
Total calls received: 70,959
Total calls answered: 66,070
Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has withdrawn the use of the (a) SignVideo Relay Service and (b) textphone number.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I can confirm that DWP continues to provide Video Relay Service (VRS) to customers who require remote inbound BSL interpretation. All VRS is provided by our current supplier, DA Languages, via SignSolution. We do not use Textphone within the Language Services contract. We no longer use the former supplier ‘SignVideo’, referenced in the question.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is that benefit claimants are on hold when contacting the Department to discuss their claim.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below presents the Departments Management Information for the period February 2022 to January 2023, detailing the average speed to answer (ASA) an inbound call, and the total number of calls answered by month.
Month Year | ASA (hrs/mins/Seconds) | Calls Answered |
FEB 22 | 0:07:35 | 3,200,789 |
MAR 22 | 0:07:43 | 3,538,351 |
APR 22 | 0:08:24 | 3,023,486 |
MAY 22 | 0:08:56 | 3,234,247 |
JUN 22 | 0:08:13 | 3,040,241 |
JUL 22 | 0:07:42 | 2,856,595 |
AUG 22 | 0:08:53 | 2,968,272 |
SEP 22 | 0:10:29 | 2,959,967 |
OCT 22 | 0:08:57 | 2,991,097 |
NOV 22 | 0:06:54 | 3,118,883 |
DEC 22 | 0:07:53 | 2,518,952 |
JAN 23 | 0:07:51 | 3,272,460 |
Please note - this information is derived from the Department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.