Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2022 to Question 93774, on Personal Independence Payment: Telephone Services, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders in response to the increase in the average speed of answer from September 2021; and what steps her Department plans to take to reduce that speed.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Relevant stakeholders are invited to the DWP Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum (OSEF) on a monthly basis to be updated with matters arising in DWP, including Q&A sessions.
The Disability Services Advocacy Team continue to liaise directly with stakeholders on a regular basis, providing updates on the PIP telephony service position. Stakeholders are also reminded of the formal DWP escalation routeway available for complex and vulnerable cases.
The Department has taken several actions to improve the speed of answer on the PIP Telephony Enquiry service:
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to issue guidance to job centres on conducting interviews online or by telephone as part of the introduction of Plan B covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic, Jobcentres remained open for claimants who required face-to-face support. From April, Jobcentres in England, Scotland, and Wales returned to their pre-lockdown opening hours and restarted face-to-face appointments, in accordance with government guidelines.
In line with current public health guidance, and with safety measures in place, Jobcentre Work Coaches are continuing to book face-to-face appointments for those claimants who are required to attend mandatory appointments as part of their conditions for receiving Universal Credit.
The frequency of interventions Work Coaches undertake with claimants is determined by the individual circumstances of the claimant, the duration of their claim, and the level of support required at that particular time. There is no target of face-to-face appointments a full-time Work Coach is expected to deliver in one day. Appointments are determined by the circumstances of each claimant and the type of meeting being conducted. Maintaining an effective Work Coach diary is a joint responsibility between a team leader and the Work Coach, and is managed collaboratively through regular discussion and agreement.
Our Jobcentre teams are committed to ensuring all claimants receive the best possible support to meet their individual circumstance. Jobcentre team leaders are responsible for assuring the quality services provided to individual claimants through a combination of observation of Work Coach interviews, feedback, coaching and appraisal.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 July 2020 on Health Transformation Programme update, what assessment her Department has made of their experience of delivering services during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department made a number of changes to health and disability benefits to safeguard the health of claimants and staff and to prioritise new claims and continuity of awards. These changes included:
The electronic and online PIP2 service, introduced at small scale during the pandemic, is being rolled out in a way that ensures that the system operates as smoothly as possible and we provide a positive claimant experience.
We are currently assessing these remote assessment channels. Findings from a survey of PIP and ESA/UC claimants who received a telephone assessment were published alongside the Green Paper. The Green Paper consultation has offered an opportunity to hear views on how we can improve assessments, including how we might provide a multi-channel health assessment service.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people whose voices cannot be understood by her Department's automated helpline systems are redirected to a human operator.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All except two of the Freephone lines that DWP provides operate with a menu of options for customers to select the most appropriate one before the call is then routed to an agent. The two lines which operate differently; Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) and the Jobcentre Enquiry Line (JEL) use a function called Natural Language Call Steering which will revert to a menu of options if the customer is not understood or chooses not to speak
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What recent assessment she has made of the contractual performance of Serco plc in delivering call-handling services for her Department.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP regularly reviews performance with Serco to ensure they are meeting contractual responsibilities. During the term of the contract Serco have largely met their Key Performance Indicators, though more recently, competitive labour market conditions and subsequent challenges recruiting agents have led to some short-term performance impacts.
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, what the average waiting time was for calls to her Department’s telephone lines for (a) attendance allowance, (b) the Child Maintenance Service, (c) personal independence payment, (d) the State Pension and (e) debt management in each month from January 2021 to October 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average call waiting time (Average Speed of Answer) for calls to DWP Service Lines for (a) attendance allowance, (b) the Child Maintenance Service, (c) personal independence payment, (d) the State Pension and (e) debt management in each month from January 2021 to September 2021 is shown in the table below in the format of hours:minutes:seconds.
The figures provided for Debt Management have been split between the Pay and Recovery lines.
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September |
Personal Independence Payment New Claims | 00:02:50 | 00:03:41 | 00:02:16 |
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Personal Independence Payment New Claims Reassessment | 00:02:40 | 00:03:33 |
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PIP New Claims & New Claims Reassessments |
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| 00:02:59 | 00:05:06 | 00:06:51 | 00:03:28 | 00:02:56 | 00:07:47 |
PIP New Claims Special Rules for Terminally Ill | 00:03:06 | 00:03:53 | 00:04:00 | 00:04:08 | 00:03:59 | 00:05:01 | 00:05:36 | 00:06:00 | 00:05:11 |
PIP Enquiries | 00:23:17 | 00:19:19 | 00:16:50 | 00:19:24 | 00:17:40 | 00:28:01 | 00:30:44 | 00:23:30 | 00:21:46 |
PIP Reassessment Enquiries | 00:00:35 | 00:00:52 | 00:00:21 | 00:00:17 | 00:00:25 | 00:00:42 | 00:00:32 | 00:01:07 | 00:01:35 |
State Pension New Claims | 00:21:55 | 00:21:31 | 00:15:21 | 00:10:13 | 00:12:35 | 00:04:39 | 00:06:37 | 00:26:39 | 00:17:51 |
State Pension Changes | 00:21:05 | 00:21:37 | 00:21:56 | 00:20:53 | 00:21:14 | 00:20:08 | 00:21:18 | 00:20:26 | 00:21:51 |
Attendance Allowance Total | 00:14:05 | 00:14:48 | 00:13:57 | 00:19:27 | 00:15:18 | 00:14:22 | 00:12:35 | 00:15:05 | 00:14:57 |
State Pension Enquiries | 00:04:12 | 00:02:37 | 00:09:26 | 00:13:30 | 00:09:17 | 00:01:02 | 00:03:24 | 00:03:41 | 00:05:10 |
Child Maintenance Service | 00:20:02 | 00:20:23 | 00:16:11 | 00:15:07 | 00:16:43 | 00:17:15 | 00:19:27 | 00:19:22 | 00:20:59 |
Debt Management "Pay" | 00:54 | 00:51 | 01:57 | 0.14 | 00:29 | 02:00 | 00:26 | 02:01 | 02:04 |
Debt Management "Recovery" | 06:47 | 07:05 | 07:55 | 05:53 | 04:40 | 02:25 | 05:13 | 04:40 | 04:13 |
Data Source: BT - Historical Management Information (GI2 – HMI) Serco, G4S
PIP New Claims & PIP New Claims Reassessment lines were combined for reporting purposes from April 21.
The telephony system does not use the term “waiting time” but instead provides data on the average speed that the call is answered.
Average Speed of Answer is the average customer wait time from the point of entering a queue to connection to an agent. This figure excludes any time spent in pre-queue messaging and any wait time for calls ultimately abandoned by callers.
October data has not yet been compiled.
The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.
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, what proportion of calls to her Department’s telephone lines for (a) attendance allowance, (b) the Child Maintenance Service, (c) personal independence payment, (d) the State Pension and (e) debt management were answered in each month from January 2021 to October 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Percentage of Calls Answered by DWP telephone lines for (a) attendance allowance, (b) the Child Maintenance Service, (c) personal independence payment, and (d) the State Pension were answered in each month from January 2021 to September 2021 is shown in the table below
The table below also shows the number of calls received (i.e. offered to the network) and answered across all of Debt Management’s “Pay” and “Recovery” lines, over the period January to September 2021.
The proportion of calls answered is shown as a percentage for each month. Debt Management aims to achieve 90% of calls answered. In the table below there are two months where the percentage fell below 90% (March and September) but for both of these months the number of calls received was higher so placing extra demands on the system.
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September |
Personal Independence Payment New Claims | 94.1% | 92.4% | 94.6% |
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Personal Independence Payment New Claims Reassessment | 93.7% | 91.9% |
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PIP New Claims & New Claims Reassessments |
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| 93.3% | 89.6% | 86.4% | 92.0% | 93.0% | 84.6% |
PIP New Claims Special Rules for Terminally Ill | 92.6% | 92.8% | 91.6% | 91.0% | 92.1% | 89.8% | 90.7% | 89.0% | 89.2% |
PIP Enquiries | 69.9% | 73.7% | 76.7% | 74.3% | 76.2% | 65.5% | 65.5% | 71.4% | 73.0% |
PIP Reassessment Enquiries | 87.0% | 85.1% | 87.4% | 89.6% | 84.8% | 87.4% | 88.9% | 84.8% | 79.0% |
State Pension New Claims | 61.3% | 64.0% | 70.1% | 81.1% | 78.1% | 90.9% | 88.1% | 58.6% | 70.0% |
State Pension Changes | 56.7% | 55.2% | 53.6% | 56.2% | 59.6% | 58.7% | 58.0% | 59.7% | 58.6% |
Attendance Allowance | 65.0% | 63.9% | 66.5% | 55.8% | 61.4% | 65.1% | 67.9% | 64.3% | 63.1% |
State Pension Enquiries | 87.6% | 92.0% | 74.8% | 67.9% | 76.8% | 97.3% | 90.8% | 90.4% | 84.6% |
Child Maintenance Service | 69.9% | 70.0% | 74.9% | 76.4% | 74.5% | 74.5% | 71.3% | 73.8% | 70.4% |
Debt Management "Pay" and "Recovery" Lines | 91.4% | 90.0% | 88.7% | 91.8% | 92.9% | 95.1% | 92.4% | 91.1% | 89.4% |
Data Source: BT - Historical Management Information (GI2 – HMI) Serco, G4S
PIP New Claims & PIP New Claims Reassessment lines were combined for reporting purposes from April 21.
October data has not yet been compiled.
The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that when rectifying the underpayment of the State Pension, the women affected are contacted by an appropriate means that caters to any disabilities or impairments they may have.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP is committed to ensuring our services are accessible to all. This includes making reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of all our customers who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010, as well as supporting customers who may be deemed to need additional support.
DWP ensures that communications with anyone who has been underpaid State Pension meet an individual’s requirements by using the information we have recorded on our systems at the claims stage. This includes the adoption of communications aids such as: Audio / British Sign Language, Induction Loop, Type-talk, Braille and large print letters.
Regular monitoring of telephone calls and written correspondence ensures that we maintain service standards and meet each individual’s specific communication requirements.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) suspending personal independent payment assessments (PIP) until recording equipment is provided and (b) allowing disabled claimants to be granted the right to refuse a PIP assessment without punitive action until a recording provision is in place.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The department continues to work closely with both Independent Assessment Services (IAS) and Capita to deliver an audio recording service for Personal Independent Payment (PIP) face to face assessments that removes the requirement for the claimant to provide the equipment. Arrangements are being finalised and we hope to have this in place as soon as practicably possible.
At present, claimants may use their own equipment to record their face to face assessment, should they wish to, as stated in the PIP Assessment Guide (PIPAG).
The option for a claimant to request an audio recording of their Personal Independent Payment (PIP) telephone assessment is available with both assessment providers.
PIP assessments will not be suspended whilst we are working to deliver an audio recording service for face to face assessments that removes the requirement for the claimant to provide the equipment.
Claimants are not penalised if they are unwilling to attend an assessment until their request for audio recording can be fulfilled. Any claimants who request an audio recording of their face to face assessment will be given the option of waiting for this to be implemented before their assessment takes place. In the meantime, claimants may use their own equipment to record their face to face assessment, should they wish to, as stated in the PIP Assessment Guide (PIPAG).
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by which date recording equipment will be in place at all personal independent payment assessment centres to support disabled claimants.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The department continues to work closely with both Independent Assessment Services (IAS) and Capita to deliver an audio recording service for Personal Independent Payment (PIP) face to face assessments that removes the requirement for the claimant to provide the equipment. Arrangements are being finalised and we hope to have this in place as soon as practicably possible.
At present, claimants may use their own equipment to record their face to face assessment, should they wish to, as stated in the PIP Assessment Guide (PIPAG).
The option for a claimant to request an audio recording of their Personal Independent Payment (PIP) telephone assessment is available with both assessment providers.
PIP assessments will not be suspended whilst we are working to deliver an audio recording service for face to face assessments that removes the requirement for the claimant to provide the equipment.
Claimants are not penalised if they are unwilling to attend an assessment until their request for audio recording can be fulfilled. Any claimants who request an audio recording of their face to face assessment will be given the option of waiting for this to be implemented before their assessment takes place. In the meantime, claimants may use their own equipment to record their face to face assessment, should they wish to, as stated in the PIP Assessment Guide (PIPAG).