§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evaluation he has made of the effectiveness of the training undertaken by staff conducting Benefit Integrity Project interviews. [77890]
§ Mr. BayleyThe training of Benefits Agency Staff is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 22 March 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what evaluation he has made of the effectiveness of the training undertaken by staff conducting Benefit Integrity Project interviews.The Benefits Agency is committed to high quality training and all training courses, including those delivered to Benefit Integrity Project staff, are evaluated on an ongoing basis with training needs under continual review.All training events, including refresher training undertaken with input from the Disablement Income Group (DIG), have been separately evaluated for their effectiveness. Post-course evaluation questionnaires are completed by all staff and post-training workshops have been carried out. This information has been used to further improve the training.
- The findings of the evaluation were that the training:
- sufficiently equipped the visiting staff to be able to carry out the visits
- focused on good practices
- reinforced the purpose of the project
Managers accompany visiting staff on a number of visits each year to ensure that the training principles have been assimilated. There has been much positive feedback from customers on how the visits have been carried out.DIG has prepared a report for the Benefits Agency that summarises their input into the training. They have made valuable suggestions for the future. We will be using their findings and our own evaluation to develop training for staff who will be working on the new periodic enquiry process from April 1999.