§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints there were against the Benefits Agency in 1999–2000; what was the cost of handling these complaints; how many of these complaints are still outstanding; and if he will make a statement. [124543]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Charlie MacKinnon to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 9 June 2000:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked Alexis Cleveland to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about how many complaints there were against the Benefits Agency in 1999/2000; what was the cost of handling these complaints and how many of these complaints are still outstanding. Due to annual leave I am replying on her behalf.The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.Complaints are received centrally through the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration [PCA], from Ministers and MPs acting on behalf of their constituents, and directly by our operational business units from members of the public, customer representatives and local MPs.For the period between 1st April 1999 and 31st March 2000, the Benefits Agency [BA] received 99 statements of complaint from the Parliamentary Ombudsman's office. The BA met all deadlines set by the Ombudsman's office. The question of outstanding Ombudsman complaints is a matter for his office and falls outside BA jurisdiction.BA Parliamentary Correspondence Unit received a total of 6155 letters of complaint. At the end of March 2000, there were 454 in total outstanding.There were 77,646 complaints received directly by our operational business units for the same period. At the end of March 2000, there were 18096 in total outstanding.I hope this is helpful.