Exasperated citizens have asked that’second-rate’ state officials stop blaming poor service on working from home and the Covid epidemic.
Those calling the government’s phone lines may expect to be on hold for up to two hours before speaking with someone who can assist them with simple requests.
One NHS radiographer had to take four days off and spend a total of 20 hours on wait to certify that his payment to HMRC had been received.
A Daily Mail audit of 38 official phone lines, carried out over two days, found long wait times, baffling menus and broken systems were the norm.
We had to wait for up to 54 minutes or were simply cut off, directed online and forced to use paid-for lines costing around 23p a minute from a BT pay-as-you-go landline. Some departments buried their contact numbers on their websites.
Four organisations contacted by the Daily Mail, used by families and small businesses, blamed Covid or working from home (WFH) for long wait times and poor service. The civil service has faced accusations that working from home is still hitting productivity four months after ministers ordered staff back to their offices.
Last night Tory MPs said it was ‘outrageous’ that millions pay tax but get ‘nothing in return’.
Bereaved families said they had to wait on the phone to the Probate Office for as long as an hour, while staff are taking four weeks to read emails. A Mail reporter waited 54 minutes on hold last week, which would cost £12.33 from a BT landline.
The Office of the Public Guardian, which manages powers of attorney, told customers WFH ‘is impacting our response times’ and said they should ‘wait at least 20 weeks before contacting us’.
A Mail reporter took 48 minutes to get through, costing £11.19.
Two Department for Work and Pensions lines, for benefits inquiries and Job Centre appointments, had waiting times of 49 and 42 minutes respectively. The Land Registry, which looks after property registers, said it still has a ‘reduced’ service and the ‘wait time may be longer than usual’.
Companies House, part of the business department, told callers ‘you may experience longer waiting times than usual’ and they ‘may hear some background noise as our advisers are working from home’. It also said its offices in Cardiff, Belfast and London are still closed ‘due to coronavirus’.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which carries out criminal records checks, said callers ‘might experience longer wait times’ because of the ‘ongoing coronavirus pandemic’. Our calls to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Passport Office and General Register Office cut out due to ‘high call volumes’.
Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘It’s outrageous. Millions of us are forced to pay our taxes and yet we’re getting nothing in return.
‘These organisations should be inspected and if they are not dealing with customers efficiently, the bosses should be fired.’
Another Tory MP, Sir Christopher Chope, said: ‘The Government has allowed people to work much less efficiently from home and the result is… second-rate standards.’
The revelations come as Money Mail’s Pick Up Or Pay Up campaign highlights long delays in contacting private firms, calling for those that don’t pick up the phone within ten minutes to be fined. Hundreds of readers told of poor service, with many furious at Government departments. They included an NHS radiographer from Dorset who took leave and spent 20 hours on hold to HMRC to get a receipt for a tax bill.
‘Obviously they are all working from home. It was an absolute nightmare,’ the 44-year-old said.
The Office of the Public Guardian said it ‘acknowledges the process needs modernising’.
HM Land Registry said its message had been out of date and ‘this has now been rectified’.
HM Courts and Tribunals, responsible for the Probate Office, said: ‘We have hired more staff.’
The DBS said its hold message was out of date but it had met standards ‘for the past few months’.
The DVLA said it had ‘recruited more staff, increased overtime and opened new customer service centres’ to reduce waiting times.