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Jobcentres: Telephone Services

Answer

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide my hon. Friend with the information requested.Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 18 March 2008:"The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking how many incidents of Jobcentre 0845 telephone system failure have occurred in the last 12 months and what mechanisms are in place to inform callers of contact alternatives when a jobcentre's telephony service fails to connect to an operator. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.""There have been no failures of the 0845 telephone system in the last 12 months. On limited occasions we have experienced minor technical problems causing telephony difficulties. These are problems that impact on one site and not the whole network.""Jobcentre Plus Contact Centres are currently answering over 94% of calls offered and are consistently delivering a good level of service to customers.""Customers calling a standalone Contact Centre (i.e. not operating within a virtual environment) whose call can not be connected would hear an emergency message which informs them that there is a problem, and asks them to call back later. Our Network Management Team is immediately notified and they ensure that calls are re-routed from the Contact Centre with the temporary problem to other Contact Centres. When the customer calls again the call would be answered.""From June 2008 all Contact Centre sites will be operating within a Virtual Environment. In the event of any telephony problems calls are automatically diverted and answered by another site.""Customers who need to call a Benefit Delivery Centre, instead of a Contact Centre, and are not connected to an operator will receive a message advising them that all our lines are busy and asking them to call back later. The message goes on to give the switchboard opening times."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

188523; 473 c1067-8W;473 c1063-4W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Jobcentres Jobcentre Plus Telephone services

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk