Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
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 increase the number of claims processed within planned processing timescales.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has seen a sustained increase in applications and demand for DWP services as a result of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living pressures, as well as ongoing publicity campaigns such as Help for Households and Pension Credit take-up.
Whilst we have seen an overall improvement in claims processed within planned timescales, and we expect that overall performance to continue to improve in the 24-25 figures, we acknowledge that across our services more needs to be done to improve the number of claims processed within the planned timescales.
Through recruitment in 23-24 we have started 17,166 people in new roles (and have further candidates due to start in Q1 of 24-25). This level of recruitment has resulted in a net increase in our Service Delivery resource levels to meet customer demand. We also have utilised our existing contracts with external partners to increase our service delivery capacity.
Across our service lines we continue to focus on productivity improvement activities, as well as continuing to modernise our benefit services through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, which mean an increasing number of claims can now be made online and through self-service. The Department strategy is to continue our modernisation programme, enable our people to focus on supporting more vulnerable customers who are unable to self-serve or need additional support.
Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of the provision of postal services in rural areas.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for the provision of a universal postal service. Its regulatory framework requires Royal Mail to ensure that, for the UK as a whole, the premises of not less than 98% of users of postal services are within half a mile of a post box and, in all postcode areas, the premises of 95% of users of postal services are within 3 miles of an access point (such as a post box, a Post Office or a Customer Service Point within a Delivery Office).
As part of its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom considered accessibility of the service, including for rural users, and decided to maintain the existing regulations.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether the Parliamentary Digital Service plans to replace the Polycom telephone system on the parliamentary estate and, if so, what is the budget for this project.
Answered by Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The Voice Programme has been set up to address service quality and user experience priorities regarding telephony in Parliament. The programme’s high-level benefits include increasing business resilience and value for money and improving customer experience across telephony services. The programme is upgrading and replacing the existing telephony infrastructure (a combination of on premise MS Teams and Skype for Business) and has completed procurement of a unified communications service, to be implemented later this year, that will deliver resilient telephony. Initially, the new service is expected- to re-utilise the existing Polycom telephone handsets, however, replacement telephone handsets will be introduced as part of product lifecycle replacement.
The House of Lords Services Committee, the House of Commons Administration Committee and the Business Resilience Board are being consulted on implementation plans for the new service.
The Investment Committee and Accounting Officers have approved a business case for the Voice Programme which has an approved whole life cost of £6.37m. These costs cover implementation, programme resources, licences, and support costs until FY28/29.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of Work Coaches was per Jobcentre in the latest period for which data is available; and what the average caseload was of a Work Coach in the same period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Average number of Work Coaches per Jobcentre
Jobcentres across the DWP estate vary significantly in size and capacity, the average number of Work Coaches per Jobcentre does not reflect this variation and is not a metric used by the Department.
At the end of March 24, the number of full time equivalent (FTE) UC, JSA and ESA Work Coaches across Great Britain was 16,480 and the number of Jobcentres was 634, giving an average number of Work Coaches per Jobcentre of approximately 26.
Notes on the figures:
Average caseload of a Work Coach
The table below shows the average number of Universal Credit customers in the Intensive Work Search regime per Universal Credit work coach FTE across Great Britain in March 24.
| March 24 |
People on UC (Intensive Work Search only) | 1,495,380 |
Number of UC work coaches (FTE) | 15,290 |
Intensive Work Search customers per UC work coach (FTE) | 100 |
Data sources: Work coach FTE - DWP’s internal Activity Based Model, People on UC - Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk)
Please note, the Department does not use caseload per Work Coach to estimate the number of Work Coaches required nationally or locally. Not all UC claimants have a Work Coach, but we have provided the number of Intensive Work Search customers per UC Work Coach as most of this group do. The Department has complex models to estimate the resource required in Jobcentres at a national level. These models cover activities across all DWP customer groups and job roles.
The Department continually impacts and assesses the service being offered to customers. Staff numbers, including the number of Work Coaches, and demand for Jobcentre services are reviewed on an ongoing basis, in line with the latest economic and benefit forecasts.
|
Notes on the figures:
All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 and cover Great Britain
People on UC
FTE
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many enquiries the Equality Advisory and Support Service has responded to in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We do not routinely collect this information. The member may wish to ask EASS for it directly. However, it may be of interest for the Member to note that the EASS receives around 3,000 calls per month and has a stringent Key Performance Indicator that requires operators to answer 85% of all calls within 30 seconds. That target is routinely met. In a recent customer satisfaction survey nearly 90% of respondents were ‘Satisfied’ or higher with the service that they received.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 5.57, page 74 of the Spring Budget 2024, what steps he plans to take to increase system capacity for the purposes of reducing the time taken to process disability claims.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. There are no clearing targets for PIP.
Following an increase in new claims and end-to-end PIP clearance times after the Covid pandemic, we have taken steps to reduce and stabilise customer journey times for PIP claimants. The latest statistics show that the average clearance time for new claims is 15 weeks end-to-end, a significant decrease from 26 weeks in August 2021.
We are addressing the increase in new claims and award reviews by increasing provider and case manager capacity and using a blend of assessment channels to deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, aiming to make a decision as quickly as possible.
The measure announced in the Budget will provide additional funding to support the processing of increased volumes of disability benefit claims. This will help to ensure that waiting times remain low and that claimants receive the appropriate level of support in a timely manner.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) strategies, (b) resources and (c) procedural enhancements he plans to employ to ensure PIP clearing targets are met.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. There are no clearing targets for PIP.
Following an increase in new claims and end-to-end PIP clearance times after the Covid pandemic, we have taken steps to reduce and stabilise customer journey times for PIP claimants. The latest statistics show that the average clearance time for new claims is 15 weeks end-to-end, a significant decrease from 26 weeks in August 2021.
We are addressing the increase in new claims and award reviews by increasing provider and case manager capacity and using a blend of assessment channels to deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, aiming to make a decision as quickly as possible.
The measure announced in the Budget will provide additional funding to support the processing of increased volumes of disability benefit claims. This will help to ensure that waiting times remain low and that claimants receive the appropriate level of support in a timely manner.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) allowing people that are moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit to use a countersignature as proof of ID and (b) opening Job Centres on (i) evenings and (ii) weekends for people who are in full-time employment.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Countersignatures or vouching can be used to verify an identity as an exception where the customer does not have any other method to prove who they are. This method is more time consuming for both the customer and agent and we have found that the majority of our customers can meet the identify verification criteria.
A number of our Jobcentres across the network already offer a Saturday service. We do not offer evening appointments, but it is important to emphasise that we have a number of different mechanisms through which customers can access our services; for example, through our Universal Credit (UC) system which is a digital platform where customers can leave messages on their journal to update UC agents on their current circumstances. A number of our service lines also offer telephony services into the evening.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with Ofgem to ensure that heat pump installation companies under the Energy Company Obligation scheme provide (a) a suitable service for customers to assist with problems and (b) provide advice on the optimal use of the new heating system.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All installations under the Energy Company Obligation scheme must be carried out by a TrustMark registered business. Installations of low carbon measures, such as heat pumps, must be carried out in accordance with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) requirements.
TrustMark’s Customer Charter sets out the responsibilities of any TrustMark registered installer which includes the registered business ensuring there is a proper testing and hand-over process to ensure the customer knows how installations work and should be maintained.
Ofgem has set out a route to redress for any issues arising from measures installed under the scheme, which can be found at: www.ofgem.gov.uk/eco4-complaints-process.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure that information on how to challenge decisions is available through the Child Maintenance Service portal.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Significant improvements have been made to the online service ‘My Child Maintenance Case’ allowing Child Maintenance Service customers to digitally report a large range of changes that impact their case.
If a customer believes the Child Maintenance Service have made the wrong decision about how much child maintenance must be paid or received, they can ask the Child Maintenance Service to look at the decision again under their mandatory reconsideration process.
Information on how to request a mandatory reconsideration is included within any decision notification. Further information is also available on gov.uk. Child Maintenance Service: What child maintenance is - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) & Challenge a benefit decision (mandatory reconsideration): Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
A dispute or a mandatory reconsideration cannot currently be reported online. However, following a decision being made, if a parent raises a linked change via My Child Maintenance Case within 32 days of the original decision, this will automatically be considered as a mandatory reconsideration request. For example, a parent raises a shared care change on My Child Maintenance Case within 32 days of a shared care decision being made, the Child Maintenance Service will look at the original decision under a mandatory reconsideration.
Plans are in place to improve the information provided to child maintenance customers. This will provide a clear digital route to guide customers on how to challenge a decision through My Child Maintenance Case. These changes are being looked at in 2024/25.