New call centre system for contacting DWP - problems already?

Tell me about it. We’ve had the same difficulty with JSA issues for several years (thankfully, IS, ESA and IB calls still go through to local delivery centre). JSA calls are bounced around the country. It’s extremely frustrating when all you want to know is whether a letter has been received or not. We have a similar problem with the Pensions Service. We end up having to elevate even very simple issues.

Do you attend the JCP Customer Liaison Meetings? It’s obviously not going to be a quick fix but it certainly seems like something that should be raised via this medium as I would imagine you’ll get many agencies with the same stories and frustrations and although it can take time, I have seen some discrete changes occur to working practices as a result.

Paul Treloar1 - 23 March 2011 03:49 PM

Do you attend the JCP Customer Liaison Meetings?

I do. This was not flagged up at the last meeting, though we have had a letter about it.

That said, I am not overly optimistic that in our neck of the woods much will come of any representations…...South London Social Fund has a practice of sending decisions on review applications that we have made on a claimant’s behalf only to the claimant, so we can never be certain of outcomes unless the client contacts us. Further, they do not enter details of representatives in any review onto their computer system, so if you phone to check on progress, they will not put you through to the review team (who do have the FOA) and you are forced to fax through a copy of the FOA to allow them to confirm with you the review has been received. I have been trying to change this for the last year - entirely without progress. Last week I phoned to ask for a number so that I could fax through a review request in order to meet the deadline (i.e. - no need to discuss client details at all) and was met with a flat refusal.

What is so difficult about giving out a fax number?

past caring - 23 March 2011 04:11 PM

[What is so difficult about giving out a fax number?

....because then they might have to begin dealing with your query…..

[/cynicism]

I do not care whether or not they deal with it (joking, obviously). What I care about is that when I ask for a direction from the tribunal to the DWP that it submits its response to the appeal, or that we proceed without the department’s response, that I can show that the appeal has actually been received…..

We have raised similar issues. JC+ now have a Contact Centre Directorate. They are ‘keen’ to receive comments and complaints about the service by the contact centres (including failure to operate the guidance on dealing with reps and implicit concent):

Jobcentre Plus, External Communications, Contact Centre Directorate, 1 Hartshead Square, Sheffield, S1 2FD T. 0114 259 0475
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

We suggested that they establish an ex-directory number for advisers similar to that for DLA/AA. Reply:

“Jobcentre Plus does not currently have plans to introduce a dedicated service line for Citizens Advice Bureau contacts. However, direct dials to local Benefit Centres have always been provided to such organisations for very vulnerable customers and emergencies - these will continue to be encouraged.”

I could make a synical comment!

The call centre system for enquiries is very frustrating, they can never deal with the enqury because the computer system is never up tp date and have to email the processing centre to call back in 3 hours time.

3 hours later I am at the Tribunal sevice repping at an appeal.

4 hours later I am back in the office greeted by a message that JCP have rang back but not left (refused to leave) a direct line number for me to call back. So I phone the call centre again, who send an email to the processing centre to phone me in 3 hours time.

The next morning, another appeal to go to. Guess what, when I get back to the office JCP rang whilst I was out, refusing to leave a direct line number again.

Meanwhile the client has rang me loads of times, getting very frustrated with the whole situation, and the fact they have got no money to live on.

(We are a mental health charity and most of our client’s will not use the phone to government organisations though fear or paranoia.)

All this sounds very familiar - It looks like we are all banging our heads against the same brick wall!

The Barnsley Advice Network discussed this issue with our four local MP’s and Angela Smith MP volunteered to take it up with the Department on our behalf.  I’ve attached the response she got back that I hope you find useful.

Well, issues with representatives and “implicit consent” have been ongoing for the last few years and are nothing new. Also, it seems that whenever there is any major reorganisation (such as at present with everything going via a call centre which then requests a ring back) it’s a case of Groundhog Day, yet again.

But the point blank refusal to give out even a fax number for the relevant appeals section is entirely new in my experience - there are no issues of consent there at all.

And yet here’s what happens when decent human beings do their jobs properly.

From a recent post of mine.

I had to ring one of the BDC’s on an ESA appeal I was repping on and had previously sent a signed FOA to.  The person I spoke to was pleasant and polite but couldn’t locate me as recorded on the system (a perennial problem of the appeals section not logging reps details on to the IT system – but that’s another story).  I know they had received my letter because they had replied to it.  He therefore told me that he couldn’t give me the info I required but would arrange a call back within 3 hours. 

As I was about to knock off for the day I drew his attention to the doctrine of implied consent and mentioned that the DWP had written guidance on it.  He said that he had never heard of the doctrine and repeated the offer of a call back.  I politely asked him if there was a line manager on the floor and if so could he give her a shout and ask her.  To his credit he did and came back a few minutes later and after a few security questions gave me the info I was after.  I thanked him and came away hopeful that he would have met the next caller better informed.  Actually, I’m thinking of billing the DWP a training invoice – only joking).

A few weeks ago I saw a client with mental health problems who failed the security check as he couldn’t get his bank details right.  Only solution was to write a letter;  takes longer but does usually get results.

I recall a similar thread (I wonder why?) however someone posted a useful tip that went something along the lines of…
Call to BDC > call centre worker does not get implied consent > Adviser tells them to click on the DWP intranet, go to the A to Z, Click ‘R’ for Representatives - working with, and scroll down.
This gives clear guidance to the call centre worker about what to ask us and what not to (banking info!).
I have tried this and you could almost feel the shock of the call centre worker, but it worked.

The other tool that should be on the desks at every call centre is the ‘Implicit Consent Wheel’ which is their handy quick look guide to implicit consent. This is the great invention rolled out before Xmas.

Chaos

Great Tip Chaos, will look forward to using that one! My most recent expereince was a refusal to take me through the process of Implicit consent because I wasn’t calling from the CAB and the adviser had never heard our organisation. I offered to guide him to our website and the picture of my happy face if he had access to the internet but he declined. I’ve never had any joy with faxing or posting signed authority as it is never logged on the ‘system’. I usually end up just calling back and speaking to a different person until I get someone who knows about implicit consent, usually works by the second or third attempt.

I’m also having exactly the same issues with Wick as in the original post. IS R2R appeal submitted to Wick, no acknowledgment letter sent, no idea if it was recieved or is active, no note on the system, no phone number for Wick, none of the promised call backs received, infuriating.

here’s a link to a previous thread on the same issue but in relation to PDCS -

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/451/

Jobcentre Plus, External Communications, Contact Centre Directorate, 1 Hartshead Square, Sheffield, S1 2FD T. 0114 259 0475
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

We suggested that they establish an ex-directory number for advisers similar to that for DLA/AA. Reply:

“Jobcentre Plus does not currently have plans to introduce a dedicated service line for Citizens Advice Bureau contacts. However, direct dials to local Benefit Centres have always been provided to such organisations for very vulnerable customers and emergencies - these will continue to be encouraged.”

I have been trying for the ex-directory number for advisers since our local BDC folded. There are numbers on letters that we can try to call back but I have been told that Basildon (our not local BDC) change their contact number regularly so that’s a failure.  I will now try with the Angela Smith reply to badger Chris Grayling.  The call back system cannot work if there is no fax number to send authorisations to as the clients are always gone by the time the call comes in, if it does at all.
We have been given some fax numbers but since I have not had any replies from queries maybe they too change regularly.
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