HC Deb 23 July 1996 vol 282 cc279-81W
18. Dr. Wright

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the consequences of the abolition of the benefits freeline service. [36973]

Mr. Roger Evans

No one will lose out through the closure of the freeline service. Customers will be encouraged to contact their local office where direct links can be made between benefit advice and personal circumstances. Freeline has no access to individual customer details and has never been able to give information specific to claims—the very reason people ring. We are directing our resources to where they are needed most as any organisation must do in order to keep operating costs in check. This decision will mean that we can keep much needed local services running.

26. Mr. Nigel Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people used his Department's freephone help line in the last year. [36981]

Mr. Roger Evans

The freeline service took 3,237,711 calls from April 1995 to March 1996.

Mr. Madden

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he proposes to maintain the freeline service offering confidential advice and information on benefits, pensions, and national insurance; how many calls have been received in each year, to date, since the service was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [38581]

Mr. Roger Evans

This is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Max Madden, dated 22 July 1996:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he proposes to maintain the Freeline service offering confidential advice and information on benefits, pensions, and national insurance; how many calls have been received in each year. to date, since the service was introduced: and if he will make a statement.The Freeline service closed on 12 July, customers are being encouraged to contact their local benefit offices. The closure will allow resources to be refocused so that the customer is in touch with the staff who administer their claims or who can directly link the benefits available with the specific personal details of the customer.Freeline, Social Security has been operating since 1984, however information about the number of calls is available only from 1993. The number of calls received has been taken to mean the number of calls answered by an adviser.The number of calls answered are shown in the table below:

Number
April 1993 to March 1994 1.5 million
April 1994 to March 1995 2.6 million
April 1995 to March 1996 3.2 million
April 1996 to 12 July 1996 800,000

These figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Mrs. Helen Jackson

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if the telephone advice service to local offices to replace the social security freeline service will be free to callers; [38610]

(2) what monitoring he will set in place to review the effect of the cancellation of the freeline social security service on the take up of benefits. [38609]

Mr. Roger Evans

This is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Helen Jackson, dated 22 July 1996:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking if the telephone advice service to local offices to replace the Social Security Service Freeline service will be free to callers and what monitoring he will set in place to review the effect of the cancellation of the Freeline Social Security Service on the take up of benefits.Many customers who contacted Freeline had to make subsequent contact with their local benefit office in order to pursue their enquiry. These calls were not free and there are no proposals to make calls to local benefit offices free now that Freeline has closed.It is not expected that the closure of Freeline will have a significant effect on the take up of benefits. Advice and information about benefit entitlement is available through the Agency's network of local benefit offices. Benefit literature is readily available in local offices, post offices and numerous other outlets. There are no proposals to review the effect of the closure of Freeline on the take up of benefits.Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain the position.
Mrs. Helen Jackson

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual cost saving to his Department of the abandonment of the Social Security freeline telephone service for claimants; and how many claimants made use of the telephone freeline service in the last year. [38608]

Mr. Evans

This is an operational matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Helen Jackson, dated 22 July 1996: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what is the annual cost saving to his Department of the abandonment of the Social Security Freeline telephone service for claimants; and how many claimants made use of the telephone Freeline service in the last year. The annual cost savings following the closure of the Social Security Freeline service are estimated at £3m for the financial year 1996/97 and £6.25m thereafter. Statistics show that in the period April 1995 to March 1996, Freeline answered 3.2 million calls and in the period April 1996 to closure on 12 July answered 800,000 calls. These figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000.

I hope you find this reply helpful.