§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department is spending in the current financial year on representative surveys of its customers; how much was spent in(a) 1998–99 and (b) 1999–2000; and if he will make a statement.[125534]
§ Mr. RookerDetails of representative surveys of customers and other research carried out under the Department's Research Programme can be found in the Research Yearbook published annually. The information includes costs and objectives. The most recent Yearbook was published in December 1999 and includes all projects undertaken in 1998–99. A copy is available in the Library.
New surveys commissioned under the Research Programme are normally subject to a competitive tender procedure. This year's commissioning process is under way and therefore the costs for the current financial year are unavailable. The remaining expenditure on representative surveys under the Research Programme can be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because, for a number of projects, customer surveys are carried out as part of a wider programme of work and disaggregated figures for the survey costs are not held centrally.
The Department also undertakes representative surveys of customers that are not funded through the Research Programme. Information on their costs is shown in the table.
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Spending on representative surveys of customers by DSS agencies, the Appeals Service and Corporate Communications £000 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Benefits Agency1 450 474 480 Child Support Agency2 - 20 - War Pensions Agency3 21 7 - Appeals Service4 - - - DSS Corporate Communications5 204 94 - Note: All amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand and exclude VAT. Sources: 1Benefits Agency (BA) Customer Service Team. Figures include field, computer and data collation costs and, as internal costs, are not liable for VAT. Figures are for national surveys only. BA Directorates may conduct local surveys but costs are not held centrally and could be produced only at disproportionate cost. 2Child Support Agency (CSA). The figure represents a customer survey commissioned by CSA Scotland and North East England Business Unit. 3War Pensions Agency (WPA). As part of its Business Plan for 2000–01, the WPA will conduct research to identify the services customers require, and will act on the findings. The research has yet to be commissioned. 4The Appeals Service (AS). AS will commission a customer survey later this year but costs are not yet available. 5DSS Corporate Communications. The total for 1998–99 includes a small element of qualitative research which it has not been possible to itemise separately. In the current financial year some surveys will be commissioned subject to a competitive tender procedure and cost estimates cannot therefore be provided.