Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered on 27th September 2022.
Paul Blomfield
Labour, Sheffield Central
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's waiting time targets are for answering calls to the helpline for benefits claimants; and what the average waiting time was in each of the last 52 weeks.
Victoria Prentis
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions
Waiting time targets:
DWP reviews forecasted telephony demand and plans resourcing accordingly to keep wait times down, wait time performance is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered. All DWP customer telephone lines are Freephone numbers.
Average waiting time/Average Speed of Answer (ASA)
The ASA for all service lines in Retirement Services, Universal Credit, Child Maintenance Group, Disability Services and Working Age for each of the last Fifty-Two weeks was as follows:
Week Commencing | Retirement Provision | Universal Credit | Disability | Working Age | |
06/09/2021 | 00:12:06 | 00:08:15 | 00:20:52 | 00:18:55 | 00:16:47 |
13/09/2021 | 00:10:12 | 00:12:30 | 00:22:15 | 00:17:58 | 00:15:03 |
20/09/2021 | 00:09:02 | 00:15:48 | 00:18:13 | 00:18:34 | 00:11:08 |
27/09/2021 | 00:10:34 | 00:13:09 | 00:22:38 | 00:19:08 | 00:10:06 |
04/10/2021 | 00:10:24 | 00:07:34 | 00:19:07 | 00:21:04 | 00:11:45 |
11/10/2021 | 00:10:14 | 00:03:17 | 00:18:55 | 00:22:17 | 00:11:01 |
18/10/2021 | 00:09:49 | 00:03:42 | 00:19:05 | 00:19:56 | 00:14:02 |
25/10/2021 | 00:10:54 | 00:03:45 | 00:20:30 | 00:18:37 | 00:17:09 |
01/11/2021 | 00:09:31 | 00:03:00 | 00:21:05 | 00:19:19 | 00:13:59 |
08/11/2021 | 00:09:22 | 00:03:38 | 00:17:10 | 00:17:29 | 00:13:46 |
15/11/2021 | 00:09:13 | 00:02:30 | 00:13:43 | 00:16:57 | 00:14:45 |
22/11/2021 | 00:08:21 | 00:03:08 | 00:14:42 | 00:17:26 | 00:18:19 |
29/11/2021 | 00:08:22 | 00:03:41 | 00:19:00 | 00:17:07 | 00:24:07 |
06/12/2021 | 00:08:27 | 00:02:09 | 00:14:37 | 00:18:18 | 00:22:52 |
13/12/2021 | 00:06:29 | 00:01:50 | 00:10:00 | 00:15:10 | 00:11:46 |
20/12/2021 | 00:04:55 | 00:00:22 | 00:15:40 | 00:12:18 | 00:07:13 |
27/12/2021 | 00:09:20 | 00:01:05 | 00:23:59 | 00:20:50 | 00:18:04 |
03/01/2022 | 00:09:53 | 00:01:12 | 00:18:23 | 00:16:45 | 00:11:20 |
10/01/2022 | 00:09:35 | 00:00:24 | 00:14:30 | 00:17:12 | 00:08:13 |
17/01/2022 | 00:10:40 | 00:00:21 | 00:15:22 | 00:13:33 | 00:08:22 |
24/01/2022 | 00:10:32 | 00:00:18 | 00:17:01 | 00:14:56 | 00:09:23 |
31/01/2022 | 00:10:01 | 00:00:53 | 00:14:57 | 00:13:48 | 00:11:49 |
07/02/2022 | 00:09:29 | 00:02:57 | 00:13:05 | 00:15:41 | 00:12:30 |
14/02/2022 | 00:09:29 | 00:01:08 | 00:14:10 | 00:16:24 | 00:17:05 |
21/02/2022 | 00:09:42 | 00:01:16 | 00:15:00 | 00:18:44 | 00:17:20 |
28/02/2022 | 00:08:44 | 00:02:26 | 00:18:20 | 00:15:44 | 00:20:05 |
07/03/2022 | 00:07:44 | 00:01:36 | 00:14:47 | 00:16:35 | 00:19:02 |
14/03/2022 | 00:06:04 | 00:02:00 | 00:12:55 | 00:17:55 | 00:21:41 |
21/03/2022 | 00:06:59 | 00:02:24 | 00:12:50 | 00:15:37 | 00:20:50 |
28/03/2022 | 00:09:03 | 00:02:18 | 00:13:13 | 00:16:46 | 00:16:13 |
04/04/2022 | 00:07:59 | 00:04:10 | 00:12:43 | 00:18:03 | 00:10:54 |
11/04/2022 | 00:06:35 | 00:02:57 | 00:09:38 | 00:18:06 | 00:14:41 |
18/04/2022 | 00:08:04 | 00:03:48 | 00:15:53 | 00:16:45 | 00:19:26 |
25/04/2022 | 00:07:03 | 00:02:31 | 00:13:24 | 00:16:35 | 00:16:21 |
02/05/2022 | 00:09:26 | 00:04:12 | 00:14:35 | 00:18:27 | 00:18:17 |
09/05/2022 | 00:08:09 | 00:02:56 | 00:14:20 | 00:14:32 | 00:19:27 |
16/05/2022 | 00:07:12 | 00:04:41 | 00:17:52 | 00:18:07 | 00:16:28 |
23/05/2022 | 00:06:58 | 00:02:56 | 00:23:56 | 00:14:16 | 00:13:23 |
30/05/2022 | 00:06:54 | 00:07:37 | 00:30:45 | 00:13:22 | 00:15:54 |
06/06/2022 | 00:08:26 | 00:04:15 | 00:29:17 | 00:19:23 | 00:15:49 |
13/06/2022 | 00:08:38 | 00:03:21 | 00:29:46 | 00:16:35 | 00:07:10 |
20/06/2022 | 00:06:12 | 00:03:26 | 00:32:13 | 00:14:20 | 00:09:11 |
27/06/2022 | 00:06:15 | 00:03:35 | 00:23:22 | 00:16:48 | 00:10:08 |
04/07/2022 | 00:06:07 | 00:03:24 | 00:19:27 | 00:17:32 | 00:11:32 |
11/07/2022 | 00:06:41 | 00:04:09 | 00:18:17 | 00:18:20 | 00:14:42 |
18/07/2022 | 00:06:14 | 00:02:06 | 00:14:08 | 00:16:21 | 00:12:02 |
25/07/2022 | 00:06:44 | 00:01:35 | 00:15:30 | 00:16:01 | 00:13:28 |
01/08/2022 | 00:08:49 | 00:02:48 | 00:14:59 | 00:17:09 | 00:16:46 |
08/08/2022 | 00:08:30 | 00:02:48 | 00:17:11 | 00:16:48 | 00:14:39 |
15/08/2022 | 00:08:14 | 00:04:55 | 00:16:59 | 00:18:05 | 00:16:10 |
22/08/2022 | 00:07:01 | 00:04:22 | 00:15:16 | 00:18:43 | 00:16:25 |
29/08/2022 | 00:07:44 | 00:03:52 | 00:17:21 | 00:19:13 | 00:19:54 |
hh:mm:ss
Average Speed of Answer measures the average customer wait time from the point of entering a queue to connection to an agent. This excludes any time spent in pre-queue messaging and any wait time for calls ultimately abandoned by callers.
Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
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