HC Deb 03 April 1996 vol 275 cc354-6W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what use was made of the 0800 advice service across north Staffordshire in 1995–96; what was the cost of the service; what mechanism he has adopted to assess the value of the service to claimants; and if he will make a statement as to the continued availability of this service. [23723]

Mr. Roger Evans

This is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ursula Brennan to Ms Joan Walley, dated 2 April 1996: As Peter Mathison is on leave at the moment, the Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what use was made of the 0800 advice service across North Staffordshire in 1995–96; what costs were involved; what mechanism he has adopted to assess the value of the service to claimants; and if he will make a statement as to the continued availability of this service.

The information is not available in the form requested, this is because the Freeline, Social Security service is operated on a national basis. Since November 1994 customers dialling the Freeline number can be connected to any one of the Freeline Centres across the country.

Annex A gives the national details for the number of calls answered and the cost. Freeline, Social Security is covered in the Benefits Agency national customer survey. The National Freeline Co-ordinators Office also conduct their own annual customer survey and they have a formal complaints procedure. A review of the service is currently looking at options for handing these types of enquiries within the overall benefit advice service. I hope you find this reply useful.

Annex A: National Freeline—Performance/costs 1995–96
(1) Call answered (2)Costs
3.2 million £6.6 million1
1Staff/running costs (including telecomms). Figures are provisional and subject to change.

Figures are rounded to nearest 100,000.

Mr. Frank Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many calls the Benefits Agency's freeline benefit advice line receives on average per year; how many calls it received for each year of its operation; and how many calls he estimates will be received in the next two years. [23819]

Mr. Evans

This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ursula Brennan to Mr. Frank Field, dated 2 April 1996: As Peter Mathison is on leave at the moment, the Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many calls the Benefits Agency's (BA's) freeline benefit advice line receives on average per year; how many calls it received for each year of its operation; and how many calls he estimates will be received in the next two years. Freeline. Social Security has been operating since 1984, however information about the number of calls is available only from 1993. The number of calls received has been taken to mean the number of calls answered by an advisor. The average number of calls received is approximately 2.4 million per year and the number of calls received is shown in the list below:

  • 1993–94: 1.5 million
  • 1994–95: 2.6 million
  • 1995–96: 3.2 million.
These figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000. The target set for the number of calls to be answered for 1996–97 has been set at 3.4 million, a target has not been set for 1997–98. However a review of the service is currently underway. I hope you find this reply helpful.