§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the future of local customer survey, undertaken by the Benefits Agency. [3351]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThis 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 David. Hinchliffe, dated 13 November 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will make a statement on the future of local customer surveys, undertaken by the Benefits Agency (BA).District Managers, who are the local budget holders, have the responsibility for deciding whether to fund local customer surveys from within their existing budgets.
330W
Families in receipt of Family Credit at that date BA Office 28 May 1993 15 April 1994 13 April 1995 12 April 1996 10 October 1996 Aldershot 1,541 2,080 2,231 2,089 2,127 Andover 570 589 770 974 1,131 Basingstoke 726 843 946 1,088 1,181 Fareham 1,084 1,282 1,443 1,847 2,040 New Forest 692 896 1,024 1,257 1310 Portsmouth North 1,243 1,524 1,653 2,047 2253
Local surveys assist managers in establishing customers' needs, so that resources and service provision are properly targeted. The results of these surveys also assists in the longer term planning process. Surveys give valuable immediate feedback on caller and telephone business, including highlighting peaks and troughs of performance, enabling managers to take steps to improve performance where needed. A further use of local customer surveys is to obtain feedback about proposed changes to business delivery.Any BA Unit seeking to be successful in their application for a Chartermark award must conduct local customer surveys.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the future of review visits by the Benefits Agency. [3350]
§ Mr. EvansThis 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. David Hinchliffe, dated 13 November 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will make a statement on the future of review visits by the Benefits Agency (BA).Review visits are carried out as part of the BA's Targeted Review programme, although reviews may also be carried out by post or telephone. 1.2 million cases in total are expected to be reviewed this year (1996/97), by all three methods. Levels of activity for next year (1997/98) have not yet been decided.I hope you find this reply helpful.