DWP to take urgent 'action' because people 'waiting longer than we would like'

A Labour Party minister for transformation has said some Child Maintenance Service users are waiting too long for telephone support.
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wants to take action to tackle call waiting times minister admits are "longer than we would like". A Labour Party minister for transformation has said some Child Maintenance Service users are waiting too long for telephone support.

The DWP minister for transformation, Andrew Western, said that the department “reviews forecasted telephony demand and plans resourcing accordingly to keep wait times down”. Ministers “fully recognise” that some are left waiting too long.

“To address this, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions through both the telephone and digital channels, and by promoting self-service online,” he added. “These are freeing up CMS resource to support customers that need to contact us by telephone.”

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“The department is investing in a new capability that aims to better route customers to the right offer at the right time,” Western said. “This will help to reduce waiting times by supporting customers to utilise digital alternatives where appropriate, which enables telephony agents to speak to our customers that really need to speak to someone."

Mr Western continued, telling fellow MPs this week: "If a customer indicates they may be at risk of physical or mental harm e.g. suicide, terminal illness, homelessness, and clinical mental health, they will be routed to a telephony agent in as short a journey as possible.”

The minister went on and added: “To improve the efficiency of the service, improvements have been made to process simple actions automatically, whilst also improving training and guidance for CMS colleagues. As a result, call volumes are reducing, and improved customer service being delivered through the combination of Online and Telephone channels.

"CMS is working to improve all forms of communication with customers, including greater use of SMS and email as well as improving letter content.”