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Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Volume 461: debated on Wednesday 20 June 2007

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) where the call centres are located which handle calls to the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs; (141560)

(2) whether the telephone system used by the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs is capable of recording (a) the average waiting time before a call from a member of the public is answered and (b) whether a call has been automatically terminated before being answered; and if he will make a statement;

(3) what benchmarks he uses to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs in providing a service to the public.

HMRC do not operate a single “national helpline” and the information is therefore not available in the format requested. HMRC operate a network of contact centres at some 22 separate locations throughout Great Britain and this network currently supports over 30 separate helplines and lines of business.

The management information available on helpline operations depends on the line of business that the helpline supports.