§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is her Department's policy on Benefit Agency staff giving their name during telephone calls to(a) hon. Members and (b) claimants; and when this was last revised; [8887]
201W(2) what advice is given to Benefit Agency staff for giving information on constituency cases to hon. Members (a) over the telephone and (b) in writing; when this was last revised; and to what grade of staff it is disseminated. [8889]
§ Mr. FieldOne of our key aims is to improve the service provided to claimants and other customers. We want a service that is open and accessible. Queries on Benefits Agency operational matters are the responsibility of Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. I have asked him to write directly to the hon. Member and for his reply to be published with the answer.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 15 July 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to provide you with some further details following the answers to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking about the policy on Benefits Agency staff giving their name during telephone calls to honourable Members and claimants and about Benefit Agency staff giving information on constituency cases to honourable members over the telephone and in writing.The Benefits Agency (BA) has a clear policy on the giving of names to any customer who contacts us by telephone, in person, or in writing and this is published in the BA Conditions of Service Manual. When dealing with honourable Members and members of the public, staff are required to give their name over the telephone on request. There has been no revision of this policy since its introduction in June 1992. We propose to include this service commitment in our revised BA Customer Charter which is due for publication later this year.The BA Parliamentary Guide provides advice to staff on giving information on constituency cases to honourable Members. Copies of the relevant extracts are attached and have been placed in the Library. The Parliamentary Guide was revised in March 1997 and is available to all staff.Guidance is also provided to staff on the disclosure of information to representatives acting on behalf of benefit customers, and includes reference to honourable Members. Where enquiries are received by telephone, the enquirer's name and telephone number should be taken so that their identity can be confirmed before any information is disclosed. Written requests for information from customer representatives normally include the customer's written consent, although in constituency cases it should be assumed that the customer has given their consent for information to be disclosed by the Benefits Agency. This guidance was last revised in 1994, and is available to all staff.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the staff numbers for each Benefit Agency local office broken down into(a) temporary staff, (b) permanent staff with less than five years service, (c) permanent staff with five to 10 years service, (d) permanent staff with 10 to 15 years service and (e) permanent staff with over 15 years service. [8890]
§ Mr. FieldAn overall aim of the Government is to streamline services to provide better, simpler and more efficient services to clients. As the staffing of the Benefits Agency is a matter for Peter Mathison, its Chief Executive, I have asked him to write directly to the hon. Member and for his reply to be published with the answer.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 15 July 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for Benefits Agency staff numbers for each Benefits Agency office.202WThe information is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However information is available broken down by Benefits Agency Area Directorate and is shown in the attached tables.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Permanent and temporary staff with less than five years service by Benefits Agency area directorate Area directorate Temporary staff Permanent staff 1. East London and Anglia 544 700 2. Chilterns 437 782 3. London South (South West) 743 1,421 4. West Country 420 651 5. Mercia 352 653 6. West Midlands 234 533 7. Wales 308 496 8. North-west Coast (Liverpool) 398 782 9. Greater Manchester 201 744 10. Yorkshire 406 684 11.Tyne Tees 153 391 12. West of Scotland 453 445 13. East of Scotland 401 471 Total 5,050 8,753 Figures are provisional and subject to change.
Permanent staff with five to ten years service by Benefits Agency area directorate Area directorate Permanent staff 1. East London and Anglia 917 2. Chilterns 942 3. London South (South-west) 1,316 4. West Country 597 5. Mercia 532 6. West Midlands 678 7. Wales 425 8. North-west Coast (Liverpool) 731 9. Greater Manchester 543 10. Yorkshire 631 11.Tyne Tees 468 12. West of Scotland 506 13. East of Scotland 336 Total 8,622 Figures are provisional and subject to change.
Permanent staff with between 10 to 15 years service by Benefits Agency area directorate Area directorate Permanent staff 1. East London and Anglia 1,148 2. Chilterns 1,163 3. London South (South West) 1,657 4. West Country 830 5. Mercia 1,029 6. West Midlands 1,127 7. Wales 802 8. North-west Coast (Liverpool) 1,024 9. Greater Manchester 860 10. Yorkshire 1,298 11.TyneTees 790 12. West of Scotland 852 13. East of Scotland 716 Total 13,296 Figures are provisional and subject to change.
203W
Staff with over 15 years service by Benefits Agency area directorate Area directorate Permanent staff 1. East London and Anglia 1,573 2. Chilterns 1,703 3. London South (South West) 2,579 4. West Country 1,852 5. Mercia 2,281 6. West Midlands 2,002 7. Wales 1,865 8. North-west Coast (Liverpool) 1,957 9. Greater Manchester 1,972 10. Yorkshire 2,406 11.Tyne Tees 1,981 12. West of Scotland 1,623 13. East of Scotland 1,669 Total 25,463 Figures are provisional and subject to change.
Total staff in Benefits Agency area directorates Total Percentage Temporary staff 5,050 8.3 Permanent staff with less than 5 years service 8,753 14.3 Permanent staff with 5–10 years service 8,622 14.1 Permanent staff with 10–15 years service 13,296 21.7 Permanent staff with over 15 years service 25,463 41.6 Total 61,184 — Figures are provisional and subject to change.