Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 26 April 2023 to Question 182089 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, whether his Department has a current target call wait time for members of the public contacting the Universal Credit helpline.
Answered by Guy Opperman
There are no current wait time targets for calls to the Universal Credit helpline. Where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of percentage of calls answered, and our outsourced suppliers publish this information quarterly at GOV.UK.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 26 April 2023 to Question 182089 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, what the average waiting time was for calls to the Universal Credit helpline in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Please find data below which shows the average speed of answer (ASA) for calls to Universal Credit for the last 2 months.
Year | Month | Business Group | ASA |
2022-2023 | Mar | Universal Credit | 00:01:28 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Universal Credit | 00:03:39 |
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: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to the (a) Universal Credit helpline and (b) Disability Service Centre for queries on (i) Personal Independence Payments, (ii) the Disability Living Allowance and (iii) the Attendance Allowance lasted (A) up to 60 minutes, (B) between 60-120 minutes and (C) more than 120 minutes, in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Please find data below which shows how many calls were made to the (a) Universal Credit helpline and (b) Disability Service Centre for queries on (i) Personal Independence Payments, (ii) the Disability Living Allowance and (iii) the Attendance Allowance:
Year | Month | Business Group | Product Line | Calls Offered |
2022-2023 | Mar | Pensions | Attendance Allowance | 126,161 |
2022-2023 | Mar | Disability | Disability Living Allowance | 156,473 |
2022-2023 | Mar | Pensions | Disability Living Allowance - 65+ | 17,898 |
2022-2023 | Mar | Disability | Personal Independence Payment | 684,306 |
2022-2023 | Mar | Universal Credit | Universal Credit | 1,345,024 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Pensions | Attendance Allowance | 113,057 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Disability | Disability Living Allowance | 129,647 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Pensions | Disability Living Allowance - 65+ | 19,693 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Disability | Personal Independence Payment | 530,117 |
2023-2024 | Apr | Universal Credit | Universal Credit | 1,213,815 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Totals |
| 4,336,191 |
We are unable to report number of calls by duration time bands as requested (up to 60 minutes, between 60-120 minutes and more than 120 minutes).
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: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has a current target call wait time for individual members of the public contacting the Disability Service Centre phoneline regarding (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Disability Living Allowance and (c) Attendance Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There are no current targets for the Average Speed of Answer (ASA) for calls to the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines.
The average waiting times for the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines for the month of March 2023 were:
PIP - 00:37:01
DLA - 00:33:36
AA – 00:02:11
DLA65+ - 00:06:22
We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the PIP and DLA telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources.
The average speed of answering calls within AA and DLA65+ is within acceptable levels.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was on calls to the disability service centre for queries on (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) the Disability Living Allowance and (c) the Attendance Allowance in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There are no current targets for the Average Speed of Answer (ASA) for calls to the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines.
The average waiting times for the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines for the month of March 2023 were:
PIP - 00:37:01
DLA - 00:33:36
AA – 00:02:11
DLA65+ - 00:06:22
We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the PIP and DLA telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources.
The average speed of answering calls within AA and DLA65+ is within acceptable levels.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 reduce the average waiting time on calls to the disability service centre for queries on (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) the Disability Living Allowance and (c) the Attendance Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There are no current targets for the Average Speed of Answer (ASA) for calls to the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines.
The average waiting times for the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines for the month of March 2023 were:
PIP - 00:37:01
DLA - 00:33:36
AA – 00:02:11
DLA65+ - 00:06:22
We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the PIP and DLA telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources.
The average speed of answering calls within AA and DLA65+ is within acceptable levels.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Leader of the House of 16 March 2023, Official Report, column 996, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring employers to ensure equal access to hygiene bins in private workplace toilets.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (‘Workplace Regulations’) state that toilets should be kept in a clean and orderly condition. The Approved Code of Practice covers provisions of a disposal method for sanitary dressings in toilets used by women.
Regulation 2(3) of the Workplace Regulations aims to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of each member of the workforce, therefore, HSE believe the current Workplace Regulations are fit for purpose in this respect though they intend to consider whether the guidance regarding disposal of sanitary dressings in toilets fulfils that aim.
Provisions for public toilets, including hygiene bins in men’s toilets, would be the responsibility of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, if he will publish the details of his scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets.
Answered by Guy Opperman
DWP publishes the total value of non-consolidated performance related pay annually, this information is published on Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Further information on the scheme is included in the written statement published on gov.uk on Monday 27 February 2023.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, what assessment he has made of the affordability of travel for claimants to attend daily one to one work search conversations with work coaches as part of the Additional Jobcentre Support pilot.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Claimants will be reimbursed for additional travel costs to Jobcentre appointments, over and above their weekly/fortnightly attendance, during the two-week period of intensive support.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the standards of advice and decisions provided by Job Centre staff are maintained under the proposed scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Guidance has been provided to Jobcentre colleagues to ensure service standards continue to be maintained.