Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
The Department received 6,521 complaints about child maintenance (around six for every 1,000 customers) in...
Conclusion
The Department received 6,521 complaints about child maintenance (around six for every 1,000 customers) in the year to 30 September 2021. This was considerably down from pre-pandemic levels in line with a general fall in complaints to the Department during the pandemic. Of the 6512 complaints received, the Department upheld 1,278 (1.15 per 1,000 customers). This is the highest per customer rate for any business area within the Department. The Department only upholds a complaint if, on investigation, it agrees that the aspect of service complained about was below the standard expected.25 The Department explained that the number of upheld complaints was coming down and that it considered this was “a sign of positive action”. The Department told us that we would continue to see it “reducing levels of upheld complaints going forward”.26
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5a. PAC recommendation: The Department should use its digital transformation to develop performance indicators that enable it to fully understand why customer satisfaction is so low, and target improvement where data suggests there may be an underlying service issue, for example: where high numbers of complaints are upheld. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 The department remains committed to continually improving the service it provides to its customers. The CMS sought independent evaluation of its customer service practices and is now in its third year of achieving the Cabinet Office Customer Service Excellence accreditation. 5.3 The department commenced a Transformation Programme in Autumn 2020 to improve outcomes for children, by enabling parents to put in place and manage sustainable child maintenance arrangements in a more efficient manner. So far, it has stream-lined and automated processes, introduced a live chat functionality, and launched a new on-line service: Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance. By 2024, when the programme completes, it will introduce further improvements that make it easier for customers to interact with the department, including increased automation to enable support that is tailored to customers’ needs. 5.4 The department is building on the development of its Customer Service strategy which will objectively analyse upheld complaints and review current measures. It will develop user research focussed on customer perception and introduce a programme allowing real time gathering of customer feedback through the introduction of “Voice of the Customer”. This programme will translate feedback into insight and help the department understand what customers are experiencing. This shares learning from customer contact and is part of an individual’s training and consolidation.