Benefits Agency (Hansard, 23 February 1999)

§ Angela Eagle

The administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. I have asked him to reply to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 22 February 1999: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking, what is the policy of Benefits Agency (BA) in respect of telephoning people outside of office hours; the policy in respect of complying with requests from people not to be telephoned with inquiries; access which the BA has to ex-directory telephone numbers and policy on use; and the policy on making telephone calls to people, to give a reference number and contact address if requested. Studies have identified that people prefer to use the telephone as a means of conducting day to day business. We therefore seek to use this as a means to improve upon accessibility and provision of a quality service. BA does not have a policy on telephoning people outside Office Hours. For operational reasons, the vast majority of calls will be made during the day, Monday to Friday. However, offices do operate flexible working hours resulting in calls potentially being made outside of 'normal' working hours. It is also the case that certain units within BA will need to telephone people in the evening or weekends, for example, where we are seeking to contact people who are no longer in receipt of benefits, or where there is a time difference, eg, people abroad who need to be contacted by our Pensions and Overseas Directorate. In providing a quality service, staff will be sensitive to keep unsociable calls to a minimum. BA would seek to respect the wishes of people requesting not to be contacted by telephone and would attempt to deal with the business by other means, e.g. by letter or interview. The Income Support computer system includes a notes pad where these details could be incorporated, however, this service is not replicated across our current IT systems, clerical notes to this effect would be made however. The BA has no direct access to ex-directory numbers. The telephone number would have to be given to the Agency. If the number has been given to us, eg, in respect of a previous benefit claim, it will be held on the Departmental Central Index computer system, which supports our mainframe benefit systems. This would result in the telephone number being available across the BA. It is policy for BA staff when dealing with customers over the telephone to answer identifying their unit or section. If staff are asked at any time during the telephone call to give their name, or it becomes apparent that the customer needs a contact name to help progress their claim or business, staff are required to give their name. This can be first name only, surname, or full name, and staff can use a pseudonym as long as it is a name used in all their customer contacts, so they can be identified by colleagues. I hope you find this reply helpful.