DWP answering benefit claimants' calls six times faster than taxpayer calls to HMRC
Satisfaction rates are notably lower among benefit claimants and taxpayers
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Benefit claimants' calls to Government phone lines are being picked up six times faster than taxpayer calls to HMRC.
The tax office answered calls to its helplines in about 18 minutes from 2024 to 2025, with calls about Universal Credit (UC) only taking three minutes.
A response to a parliamentary question showed the quick timings of responding to UC, which were made to the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) between March and October last year.
Phone calls concerning personal independence payment (Pip) were answered in just 11 minutes.
UC callers received an answer from the DWP in no more than five minutes in the last four years, while Pip callers waited for around 17 to 19 minutes.
Customer experience research conducted by the DWP last year shared an overall satisfaction rate of 85 per cent, between 2022 and 2024, up from 83 per cent.
Pip satisfaction totals increased by six per cent over the same period, up to 83 per cent.
Customer service satisfaction at HMRC is notably lower, with only 62 per cent reporting a positive experience between 2024 and 2025.
Taxpayers are having to wait six times longer than benefit claimants
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It comes after Labour halted plans in March to make an extra 80,000 claimants look for work as ministers could not keep a lid on the UK's staggering welfare bill.
Ministers backtracked on their initial plans to save around £5billion a year by cutting benefits.
HMRC were criticised in April for spending around £100million on senior staff while pushing back on helpline workers.
The cost of recruiting senior compliance staff added a further £100million to salaries between 2019 to 2020 and 2023 to 2024, according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee.
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Over this same period, the tax office reduced its frontline customer service workforce by nine per cent.
This reduction in workforce has contributed to the longer waiting times on the phone.
Former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "Similarly, the income tax threshold is frozen while benefits go up with inflation.
"The Government supports those who are paid by the state rather than those who pay for it."
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the Government of supporting 'those who are paid by the state rather than those who pay for it'
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Benefits for foreign citizens' households have nearly doubled in just three years, costing the taxpayer more than £900million per month.
A freedom of information request to the DWP showed that in March this year, such households received £941million in UC payments, compared with £461million in March 2022.
The £941million represented a 30 per cent increase from March last year and accounted for 15.5 per cent of the £6.05billion in universal credit payments distributed that month.
Foreign citizens are able to claim benefits, including UC, pension credit and housing benefits on the same terms as British citizens once they are granted indefinite leave to remain or refugee status.
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