§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many calls have been received by each telephone helpline administered by his Department in each month since January 1999; and what the salary levels are for those who work on each helpline.[121059]
§ Mr. RookerThe information is in the table.
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Calls received by each DSS helpline since January 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000 February 2000 March 2000 April 2000 National Benefit Fraud Hotline 12,971 9,291 14,683 10,906 14,272 19,285 23,118 12,815 CSA National Enquiry Line 59,179 60,495 64,699 44,551 54,125 47,438 71,496 58,683 CSA's Client Helpline 614,752 297,051 236,684 219,426 379,380 227,792 265,945 161,329 Benefit Enquiry Line 103,598 90,064 89,344 75,286 91,586 92,406 118,167 87,979 Minimum Income Guarantee — — — — — — 11,632 17,420 War Pensions Helpline 32,063 26,152 30,882 20,154 27,592 28,227 31,755 25,510 Winter Fuel Leaflet Order Line1 2,897 2,509 933 280 54 42 28 0 Winter Fuel Helpline 7,897 15,217 130,586 103,390 73,657 39,272 29,937 — New Deal for Lone Parents1 1,597 8,131 3,421 1,434 7,929 7,467 8,057 3,842 Pensions-Info Line1 1,843 2,393 1,728 1,338 2,853 5,721 15,301 10,759 Mortgage Protection Line1 91 82 1,339 166 106 89 49 44 Welfare Reform Order Line1 350 763 1,117 330 258 459 360 283 ONE/Single Work Focused Gateway 1,133 1,294 1,048 562 221 770 695 n/a Inherited SERPS Scheme(ISS)1 — — — — — — 10,005 2,026 Customer Care Helpline 307,004 314,214 319,972 283,507 352,558 371,762 448,711 314,462 DSS Public Enquiry Office 8,107 6,887 7,555 4,996 11,283 11,597 10,472 8,584 Child Benefit Centre 163,366 158,848 185,895 124,772 174,309 185,557 197,469 147,990 1Means these helplines are run on our behalf by commercial response lines. Their salary levels are Commercial in Confidence. 2Included in January figure. 3Closed.
Average salaries for those run by the department (between the minimum and maximum paybands) £ Benefits Agency Child Support agency War Pensions Agency A1 10,789 9,925 — A4 15,053 12,375 12,701 B3 21,248 16,500 16,841 C3 26,414 21,124 — C4 — 25,850 — Information is given on additional helplines to that given in my reply to the hon. Member on 4 April 2000, Official Report, column 626W. That reply was given on a narrower definition of the term "helpline". This one has been expanded to include information on, for example, leaflet ordering lines.
Background Detail on Helplines and TeleservicesNational Benefit Fraud Hotline—0800 854440A confidential telephone service for people who wish to report suspected cases of benefit fraud.CSA National Enquiry Line (CSA NEL)x2014;0845 7133133The main function of the National Enquiry Line is to deal with general inquiries about child support matters.
- The CSA's Client Helplines
- Belfast: 0845 7 132000
- Birkenhead: 0845 7 138000
- Dudley: 0845 7 131000
- Falkirk: 0845 7 136000
- Hastings: 0845 7 134000
- Plymouth: 0845 7 137000
Helplines are operated by each of the six Business Units in the Child Support Agency, in order to deal with a range of inquiries, particularly those from clients who wish to talk about their case.Minimum Income Guarantee Helpline—0800 0281111A Freephone line where pensioners can request a claim form and information about MIG, and from 30 May pensioners can have a claim form completed on their behalf.Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL)—0800 882200380WBEL is a national telephone helpline providing free and confidential advice on all Social Security Benefits to people with disabilities, their carers and representatives.War Pensions Helpline—01253 858858A helpline giving general help and advice to existing war pensioners and war widows; to anyone wishing to claim a war disablement or war widows' pension; and to ex-service organisations.Winter Fuel Payments Leaflet Order Linex2014;0845 91515151A response line for people wishing to order leaflets containing information on winter fuel payments.Winter Fuel Payments Helpline—0845 915 1515A helpline for people who want to ask questions about the Winter Fuel Payments scheme.1The number is the sameNew Deal for Lone Parents—0800 783 9873A helpline for people wishing to get information on the New Deal for Lone Parents and for lone parents who want to join the scheme.Pensions Info-Linex2014;0345 313 232This is a telephone orderline that people can call to order copies of DSS information leaflets on pensions and other relevant information.Mortgage Protection Line—0870 600 6990An order line for people who want copies of the leaflet 'Protecting Your Mortgage'.Welfare Reform Order Line—020 8867 3201This is a telephone order line that people can call to order copies of DSS information leaflets and reports on Welfare reform and other DSS issues.The Inherited SERPS Scheme Helpline—0845 600 6116The ISS was announced by Secretary of State on 15 March 2000. A telephone helpline was set up on the same day. The helpline provides answers to a range of questions on the announcement and gives the option of registering to receive a claim form when the scheme has started.Customer Care Helpline—0845 712 3456The Customer Care Helpline is a telephone service offered to Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance customers/ beneficiaries and their representatives. In addition to giving 381W information about the progress of any claim, explaining decisions etc for those benefits, it accepts certain changes of circumstances over the telephone.Public Enquiry Office—0207 712 2171A national unit dealing with policy related inquiries for the Department, acting as a first stop service, passing callers on to relevant officials as appropriate. It also acts as a first point of contact for more general inquiries relating to more general matters.Child Benefit Centre—0541 555540 and 0541 555501The Child Benefit Centre has a centralised teleservice. This is a service provided to customers who wish to report any changes of circumstances without the need to make their report in writing. It is aimed at dealing with as many calls as possible, at the point of contact.