§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a breakdown of the lost incoming telephone calls recorded by the War Pensions Agency helpline for each month since it was introduced. [21274]
§ Mr. HealdThis is a matter for Mr. Kevin Caldwell, chief executive of the War Pensions Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from K. C. Caldwell to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 March 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of lost incoming telephone calls recorded by the War Pensions Agency Helpline since it was introduced.
Although a Helpline has been in existence since February 1992, information on lost calls has only been available since we upgraded our telephone system in February 1994. The enclosed table shows the number of calls lost each month since then. These figures do not reflect the number of people attempting to contact us because enquirers often call back later if they cannot get through quickly at the first attempt.
The number of calls received by the Helpline rose significantly during 1995 for a number of reasons. We introduced a new computer system, reorganised the way we work and moved to a new building. All this is aimed at securing a better, more cost effective service but there have been some issues arising from the changes which have resulted in many pensioners contacting the Agency for a variety of reasons. There was also the special exercise in restoration of War Widow's Pensions to those widows who had remarried after the death of their first husband and subsequently became widowed again or divorced/legally separated.
Extra staff were drafted in to answer calls and our telephone system was upgraded further to divert automatically to an answerphone calls which have not been answered within 30 seconds. A message can then be left and the call is returned. These measures have led to a gradual reduction in lost calls since their peak in October 1995 and we are working to reduce lost calls to the pre-1995 level.
I hope you find my reply helpful.
282W
Lost telephone calls to War Pensions Agency Helpline Month Total lost 1994 February 116 March 484 April 748 May 1,266 June 1,530 July 1,077 August 1,890 September 2,548 October 2,390 November 1,804 Decembe 692 1995 January 1,202 February 1,497 March 7,495 April 18,918 May 17,552 June 7,839 July 19,015
Lost telephone calls to War Pensions Agency Helpline Month Total lost August 30,425 September 44,915 October 73,575 November 53,579 December 32,005 1996 January 46,474 February 19,484