HC Deb 25 February 2002 vol 380 cc770-2W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls have been received by each telephone helpline administered by his Department in each month since May 2000. [27764]

Mr. Nicholas Brown

The information on the number of calls answered by each current helpline is set out in the tables.

Telephone helplines—2000 (May to December)
May June July August September October November December
New Deal for Lone Parents 2,158 2,022 2,370 1,736 2,106 2,334 1,671 1,222
BA Publicity Register 1,235 4,753 1,352 2,130 1,050 875 1,187 423
Inherited SERPS Enquiry Line 1,708 1,279 777 3,008 2,223 2,807 3,218 911
Winter Fuel Payment Orderline (WFP) 0 0 0 826 2,264 663 642 564
Pensioner Guide Orderline 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Winter fuel payment Helpline 78,960 109,812 83,136 100,125 84,255 84,429 157,594 122,653
Pensions Information line 4,414 3,198 3,279 3,560 3,712 5,121 4,682 4,636
Child Benefit Enquiry line 164,238 187,530 191,635 195,484 189,830 186,836 180,218 135,993
Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) 93,584 115,008 92,595 105,683 95,307 91,634 117,619 60,888
Client Help Line (CHL) 273,969 314,703 252,824 253,399 323,135 247,701 240,207 242,189
1 Formerly Overseas Customer Service helpline

Telephone helplines—2001 (January to June)
January February March April May June
Benefits Agency Chief Executive's helpline 359 250 305 250 267 281
Employment Service Direct 268,050 274,128 340,913 260,997 264,149 360,616
CSA National Enquiry Line and Client Helpline (NEL) 53,379 51,641 63,187 42,394 43,279 54,482
National Benefit Fraud Hotline 17,340 18,191 27,580 17,261 18,461 14,086
Disability Allowance Customer Care helpline 369,324 333,297 361,665 312,256 335,885 331,229
Retirement Pensions Teleclaim Line 30,603 28,861 31,398 41,000 48,500 43,500
Pensions Direct 96,040 103,691 123,515 92,948 94,321 82,661
Customer Liaison Team1 14,238 10,333 10,516 8,855 9,842 12,054
Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) Claimline 15,290 13,202 52,814 25,061 13,843 10,723
Retirement Pension Forecasting and Advice (RPFA) 35,640 32,650 36,496 30,994 31,330 20,609
Public Enquiry Office 6,017 4,741 5,130 5,248 2,727 3,708
Employer Direct 0 0 0 18,183 59,907 108,707
Medical Benefit 3,378 2,678 3,188 2,343 3,213 3,628
New Deal for Lone Parents 2,160 2,284 12,167 6,831 2,565 2,348
BA Publicity Register 1,338 1,729 1,149 1,226 1,454 1,588
Inherited SERPS Enquiry Line 690 1,933 4,636 1,615 1,023 508
Winter Fuel Payment Orderline (WFP) 228 194 71 0 0 0
Pensioner Guide Orderline 0 771 6,470 1,496 1,832 1,186
Winter fuel payment Helpline 143,162 78,820 73,487 30,317 19,313 13,857
Pensions Information line 23,970 23,339 23,525 14,956 5,516 5,000
Child Benefit Enquiry line 224,406 190,057 201,576 169,933 184,934 204,969
Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) 125,715 105,292 107,656 91,520 108,469 92,295
Client Help Line (CHL) 247,059 248,327 337,343 223,630 223,366 277,883
1 Formerly Overseas Customer Service helpline

Telephone helplines—2001 (July to December)
July August September October November December
Benefits Agency Chief Executive's helpline 283 287 310 395 407 342
Employment Service Direct 326,002 388,892 322,932 338,596 422,070 197,595
CSA National Enquiry Line and Client Helpline (NEL) 44,664 52,883 45,728 44,722 56,039 28,776
National Benefit Fraud Hotline 13,360 14,503 25,001 21,363 19,535 9,738
Disability Allowance Customer Care helpline 333,211 305,652 294,536 335,118 329,134 238,877
Retirement Pensions Teleclaim Line 51,000 50,000 43,999 45,091 28,565 27,134
Pensions Direct 84,145 84,337 78,755 88,502 106,923 73,849
Customer Liaison Team1 15,145 11,597 16,361 13,512 13,958 11,169
Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) Claimline 7,906 7,509 7,638 10,003 16,583 8,572
Retirement Pension Forecasting and Advice (RPFA) 30,378 30,923 27,323 32,946 29,366 15,448
Public Enquiry Office 5,250 5,389 5,246 6,191 4,598 4,321
Employer Direct 100,691 135,768 125,684 116,182 144,363 66,428
Medical Benefit 3,888 4,225 3,988 4,365 3,741 2,457
New Deal for Lone Parents 2,624 1,864 2,645 3,055 2,139 1,373
BA Publicity Register 1,171 1,278 1,093 857 1,647 692
Inherited SERPS Enquiry Line 432 10,980 10,044 3,166 3,385 1,861
Winter Fuel Payment Orderline (WFP) 0 0 1,675 1,024 595 185
Pensioner Guide Orderline 3,389 1,834 2,036 1,478 5,081 1,436
Winter fuel payment Helpline 24,929 33,849 30,046 37,340 162,673 92,974
Pensions Information line 8,061 9,684 13,420 7,410 4,543 3,010
Child Benefit Enquiry line 222,978 223,995 225,073 262,668 214,731 158,633
Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) 86,139 91,250 90,612 116,650 92,632 61,519
Client Help Line (CHL) 216,045 244,198 223,648 221,737 285,016 182,787
1 Formerly Overseas Customer Service helpline