Uxbridge Benefits Agency (Hansard, 21 July 1997)

§ Mr. Field

One of our key aims is that delivery of service should be simpler and more efficient. To maintain and improve the level of service while keeping within announced spending totals, managers are proposing to move the processing of benefits from the Benefits Agency office at Uxbridge to the Harrow office but, as the hon. Member will see, the Benefits Agency guarantees that the range of services offered to the public will be unaltered. Queries on operational mattes are for the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, Peter Mathison. I have asked him to reply to the hon. Member directly and for his reply to be published with the answer.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Mark Oaten, dated 18 July 1997: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the Benefits Agency (BA) offices at Harrow and Uxbridge. The BA is currently undertaking a reappraisal of its services and the way they are delivered, in order to maintain and improve the level of service whilst keeping within the spending targets that have been set for the next two years. The agency is committed to ensuring that people will get the help they need to claim the benefits they are entitled to. The Chilterns Area Directorate remains committed to providing a high level of service to its customers and equal access to the benefit system for all members of the public. It is proposed to move processing staff from Uxbridge to the Harrow site. The two offices are only 11 miles apart with excellent transport links. The range of services offered to the public will be unaltered. The BA would normally only consult with outside organisations in cases where there would be a significant change in services provided. In this case, in addition to consulting staff, outside organisations were consulted, as a matter of good practice. There are no plans therefore to extend the consultation period. Staff have been aware of the proposals since November 1996, they were disclosed to local customer organisations earlier this year and have also been reported in the local press. A letter was issued to local Members of Parliament and outside organisations on 9 July, asking for comments by 30 July, a copy of which is attached. All comments and representations will be taken in account before any decision is made. It is expected that by making better use of existing building space, this project will save £7.9 million of public money, based on a 20 year business case. In the first 5 years the savings will be on average £370k per year. 478W I hope you find this reply helpful.

Text of consultation letter Dear I am writing to let you know about proposed changes to the way we process and maintain claims to benefit in the Harrow and Hillingdon offices. At this point I would like to reassure you that this would be an internal reorganisation and does not involve the closure of any public caller facilities.

Current Position Until recently we have always had a full claims processing and claims maintenance operation at both Colham House, Uxbridge, and King's House, Harrow. However, when the new Job Seekers Allowance was introduced in October last year, we moved the processing and maintenance of claims for unemployed customers into the five local Job Centres. This is a more practical arrangement as it means that these customers can deal with both job search and benefits issues at the same time. With our staff now spread over seven sites (5 Job Centres and 2 Benefits Agency offices) the building space at Colham House and King's House is not being used efficiently, and I have to look at ways of rationalising our estate to make the best use of resources and to ensure value for money.

Proposed Changes We propose to move all remaining processing and claims maintenance work from Colham House, Uxbridge to King's House, Harrow starting in November this year. There will be no change to the arrangements for personal callers who go to our Uxbridge office, and staff remaining at Colham House will be able to deal with all enquiries and make Crisis Loan payments as they do now. Advances in Information Technology allow us to process claims off-site, and staff are linked by computer terminals and a telephone network to allow them instant access to customer information to answer queries and give advice. As most of the contact we have with customers is by phone or correspondence, the changes would be largely invisible to your constituents. In fact we would expect to be able to raise the quality of the service we provide because of the increased viability gained from the merger of processing work into a larger unit. In the longer term I would also be looking to improve caller facilities at Uxbridge by vacating Colham House completely and moving to more suitable premises in the town centre. I am discussing these proposals with our staff and customer organisations. I welcome your views and would appreciate a response by 30 July 1997. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Jane Manning (Mrs)