(2) how long on average it took for calls to (a) the claimants’ and (b) hon. Members’ tax credit helpline to be answered in each of the last 24 months;
(3) how many calls were (a) received, (b) handled and (c) unanswered by (i) the claimants’ and (ii) hon. Members’ tax credit helpline in each of the last 24 months;
(4) how long on average it took to answer calls made to the tax credits helplines for (a) claimants and (b) hon. Members in each of the last 24 months; what the duration of the (i) longest and (ii) shortest call to each was in each month; and what the average call duration was;
(5) how many calls were (a) received on, (b) handled by and (c) unanswered by the tax credit helplines for (i) claimants and (ii) hon. Members in each of the last 24 months;
(6) how many calls have been received via the tax credit helpline for hon. Members in each month since it was established.
The information requested about the (a) longest and (b) shortest length of call is not readily available and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. I would also refer the hon. Member to previous answers provided by my right hon. Friend the then Paymaster General—25 June 2007, Official Report, column 418W, 31 January 2008, Official Report, column 682W, and 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 152W—where elements of the requested information have been provided. The remaining information is detailed in the following table.
Average call handling time1 (m:ss) Average time to talk to adviser2 (m:ss) Calls received3 Calls handled4 Abandoned5 Busy and engaged6 2006 December 05:12 00:16 7— 8— 7— 7— 2007 January 05:13 00:19 7— 8— 7— 7— February 05:06 00:18 7— 8— 7— 7— March 04:31 00:17 7— 8— 7— 7— April 05:04 00:28 7— 8— 7— 7— May 05:45 01:49 9— 8— 221 846 June 05:50 02:01 9— 8— 265 818 July 06:03 03:50 9— 8— 402 4,063 August 05:44 01:03 9— 8— 103 247 September 05:52 01:49 9— 8— 184 369 October 05:34 00:52 9— 8— 74 120 November 05:35 00:31 9— 8— 34 69 December 05:32 00:29 9— 8— 25 42 2008 January 06:04 02:12 9— 1,621 209 315 February 06:05 01:03 9— 1,518 82 120 March 06:05 00:59 9— 1,375 71 81 April 06:10 02:34 2,270 1,963 307 1,119 May 06:32 04:31 2,780 2,193 586 2,897 June 06:40 04:12 3,098 2,486 611 2,661 July 06:46 04:36 3,851 3,070 781 7,133 August 06:21 01:18 2,197 2,049 147 334 September 06:22 01:48 2,130 1,932 198 455 October 06:19 00:38 1,628 1,581 47 56 November 06:23 00:18 1,415 1,402 13 19 1 Average call handling time is the time spent by the customer on the phone together with any additional time taken by the adviser after the call to complete any tasks. 2 Average time to talk to adviser is the time taken for the call to be answered by an adviser once the caller has selected an option from the call steering menu. 3 Calls received, where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu and the call was placed into the queue to speak to an adviser. 4 Handled, where the caller spoke to an adviser. 5 Abandoned, where the call was disconnected after the caller selected an option from the call steering menu, but before being connected to speak to an adviser. 6 Engaged and busy, where the caller was played either a busy message or received the engaged tone when they rang. 7 Details provided previously, 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 418W. 8 Details provided previously, 31 January 2008, Official Report, column 682W. 9 Details provided previously, 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 152W. Note: With the exception of times, figures are shown in thousands.
Average call times on the tax credits helpline fluctuate according to peaks in the business. The peak in demand in July reflects the tax credits renewals statutory deadline date of 31 July. There is an increasing trend, encouraged by HMRC, towards renewing by telephone rather than by post. This has been shown to provide more accurate, up-to-date information, and so reduce overpayments.
Between 1 December 2006 and 31 November 2008, on average, it took between 16 and 24 seconds for calls to be answered. For the number of calls to the hon. Members’ tax credit helpline handled by the Tax Credit Office MP hotline, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 10 December 2008, Official Report, columns 199-200W.
Information about the number of calls received and unanswered is provided in the following table.
Number of calls to Tax Credit Office MP hotline Calls handled Calls abandoned or unanswered 2007 June 1,335 1,291 44 July 1,081 1,071 10 August 989 976 13 September 1,170 1,146 24 October 1,419 1,404 15 November 1,249 1,233 16 December 898 887 11 2008 January 950 934 16 February 1,039 1,025 14 March 800 775 25 April 966 947 19 May 1,042 994 48 June 1,173 1,118 55 July 1,101 1,083 18 August 848 826 22 September 1,025 11,009 16 October 1,127 11,114 13 November 911 1877 34 1 Figures for September, October and November 2008 correct those provided in the answer given on 10 December 2008, Official Report, columns 199-200W.
Information about the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average length of calls to the Members’ tax credit hotline is not available.