Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Eric Illsley (Labour). It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Monday, 1 February 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Jobcentre Plus

Question: What steps she is taking to improve telephone communications between benefit claimants and Jobcentre Plus.

Answer: In keeping with the 100th anniversary of the labour exchange, which is today, we are continuing to modernise communications with Jobcentre Plus to make it easier for millions of people to get in touch about their benefit or seeking work. We have been concerned for some time that people calling on mobile phones were being charged a lot for calls to claim benefits which would be free from landlines, so we have recently negotiated a deal with the major mobile phone companies that their customers should also not be charged for calling 0800 numbers, and we are looking at what further steps we can take.

Secondary information