New phone service for benefit claimants

The government has launched a new free phoneline to speed up the process for awarding benefit claims.

Ministers say that in most cases benefit applicants will now need to speak with just one call centre adviser to make a claim.

The launch of the national 0800 number follows a successful pilot of the new telephone service, which will be operated by the Jobcentre Plus government agency.

Previously benefit claimants were required to contact officials through an 0845 number as part of a system which meant call centre staff had to arrange to call them back within 36 hours in order to reduce the cost of the call to the applicant.

As well as using the new 0800 line to make benefit claims, callers will also be able to receive advice about returning to work.

Launching the new service, employment minister Jim Murphy said that the feedback that had been received from callers following the pilot of the scheme had been "very positive".

"I am pleased that this service will now be available to everyone, significantly improving the way that people can claim benefits," Mr Murphy stressed.

"I believe that this change will encourage people to get in touch with us to claim the benefits they are entitled to as well as receiving help in getting back into the labour market," he added.

Jobcentre Plus chief executive Lesley Strathie said that the new 0800 number was one of a range of "modernised" services being introduced by the agency as part of a long-term strategy to improve its dealings with job seekers.

Meanwhile, separate figures released today by the agency – part of the Department for Work and Pensions, show "unprecedented growth" in the number of people accessing the Jobcentre Plus website to search vacancies.

During one week in March the website saw a record 6.5 million job searches conducted by almost 2.2 million online jobseekers, the organisation said.

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