IN-CONFIDENCE
11 January 2024
W Nikau
[FYI request #24751 email]
Tēnā koe
On 14 November 2023
, you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) requesting a weekly breakdown of average call wait times in the
last 12 months, by clients, suppliers, ethnicity, gender, disability.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act). Please find my decision on each part of your request set out below. I
have also included some general information about call wait times at the end
of this letter, for your further information.
•
Could you also give me the average wait time for calls for each of the
following categories, for the last 12 months, broken down by week:
o
*every one including suppliers
o
*only suppliers
Please find below a table which shows the average speed to answer calls for
the last year, broken down by week.
Average Speed to Answer (minutes)
MSD Contact Centre
Week starting
MSD Contact
Centre
W&I Supplier Line
EXCLUDING W&I
Supplier Line
21/11/2022
21:09
48:25
21:05
28/11/2022
20:26
42:21
20:23
5/12/2022
21:05
51:49
21:00
12/12/2022
22:00
49:39
21:56
19/12/2022
21:22
50:28
21:17
26/12/2022
17:17
50:44
17:12
2/01/2023
25:33
62:39
25:25
9/01/2023
24:27
57:43
24:22
16/01/2023
22:12
49:28
22:08
23/01/2023
20:53
59:00
20:48
30/01/2023
19:42
62:33
19:38
6/02/2023
23:02
60:12
22:57
IN-CONFIDENCE
Average Speed to Answer (minutes)
MSD Contact Centre
Week starting
MSD Contact
Centre
W&I Supplier Line
EXCLUDING W&I
Supplier Line
13/02/2023
16:30
62:00
16:25
20/02/2023
15:15
46:51
15:10
27/02/2023
16:32
26:51
16:29
6/03/2023
16:06
22:31
16:04
13/03/2023
12:57
14:53
12:56
20/03/2023
12:10
12:49
12:10
27/03/2023
12:05
13:21
12:04
3/04/2023
13:50
14:43
13:50
10/04/2023
13:47
10:17
13:48
17/04/2023
12:42
11:21
12:42
24/04/2023
12:52
11:18
12:53
1/05/2023
12:21
12:14
12:21
8/05/2023
11:09
09:42
11:10
15/05/2023
11:00
11:24
11:00
22/05/2023
10:38
11:32
10:38
29/05/2023
11:02
09:02
11:03
5/06/2023
11:47
09:23
11:48
12/06/2023
11:07
09:45
11:07
19/06/2023
11:44
10:46
11:44
26/06/2023
11:07
11:54
11:06
3/07/2023
12:45
14:17
12:44
10/07/2023
11:46
11:29
11:46
17/07/2023
12:17
12:09
12:17
24/07/2023
11:50
10:32
11:51
31/07/2023
11:14
09:58
11:14
7/08/2023
11:05
10:15
11:06
14/08/2023
11:20
09:17
11:21
21/08/2023
11:24
08:38
11:27
28/08/2023
11:18
08:17
11:21
4/09/2023
11:04
10:03
11:05
11/09/2023
11:17
11:54
11:17
18/09/2023
13:01
17:03
13:00
25/09/2023
19:08
20:37
19:07
2/10/2023
10:55
08:13
10:56
9/10/2023
11:38
15:31
11:37
16/10/2023
11:26
16:34
11:25
23/10/2023
12:00
18:47
11:59
30/10/2023
11:23
13:51
11:23
6/11/2023
11:27
13:25
11:27
13/11/2023
11:48
11:01
11:48
Average
14:36
16:33
14:36
Page 2 of 5
IN-CONFIDENCE
•
Could you also give me the average wait time for calls for each of the
following categories, for the last 12 months, broken down by week:
o
*non suppliers, for each self identified ethnicity (ie wait times
for Maori vs pakiha) *non suppliers, each self identified gender.
o
*non suppliers, who are receiving some for of benefit or waver
for a disability (including waver of work requirements on job
seekers) *who are not receiving some for of benefit or waver for
a disability (including waver of work requirements on job
seekers) *non suppliers who tell an automated/non human
system (via voice or key input) that they are calling to repay a
debt.
o
*non suppliers who did not tell an automated/non human
system (via voice or key input) that they are calling to repay a
debt.
Regarding your requests for caller data, this information is only held in
individual client files. Due to the substantial amount of work that would be
required to find and collate the information you have requested, we are
refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(f) of the Act, on the
basis that the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research. To respond to your queries, the Ministry
would need to manually collate the data requested.
The Ministry has considered whether charging or extending the timeframe for
responding to your request would help, as required by section 18A of the Act.
However, the Ministry does not consider that either of these approaches
would allow us to meet your request without significant and unreasonable
impact on the Ministry’s ability to carry out its other operations.
We have considered consulting with you, as required by section 18B of the
Act. However, due to the specificity of your request, the Ministry does not
consider that consultation would assist in providing you the information that
you wish for.
•
Could you also include any other documentation, meetings or notes
available regarding the quality of phone services being provided, areas
that have been identified as needing improvement, plans for
improvement, and costs
The Ministry does not hold any documents within scope of your request. This
aspect of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, under the
basis that the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable
efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Page 3 of 5
IN-CONFIDENCE
•
Tell me the average time non suppliers spends waiting to get through
to a human when calling wins broken down by day for the last year
and broken down by week for as long as you have it.
Weekly data is centrally reported on by the Ministry. The weekly data is
reported on specific categories that enable the Ministry to collate the data
quickly and efficiently.
Please note that the average speed to answer relies heavily on the volume of
calls answered on that line. When viewing results at a daily level without the
context of factors influencing that time, the average speed to answer may
appear volatile and/or skewed. We have numerous systems and teams
supporting us to understand this and to provide an overview of the daily and
weekly call volumes.
Due to the substantial amount of work that would be required to find and
collate the information you have requested, we are refusing this aspect of
your request under section 18(f) of the Act, on the basis that the information
requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or research.
To respond to your queries, the Ministry would need to manually collate the
data requested.
The Ministry has considered whether charging or extending the timeframe for
responding to your request would help, as required by section 18A of the Act.
However, the Ministry does not consider that either of these approaches
would allow us to meet your request without significant and unreasonable
impact on the Ministry’s ability to carry out its other operations.
We have considered consulting with you, as required by section 18B of the
Act. However, due to the specificity of your request, the Ministry does not
consider that consultation would assist in providing you the information that
you wish for.
General information
The Ministry aims to answer all calls to our 0800 services as quickly as
possible. Due to changes both to the Ministry’s operating environment as
well as economic changes, we’ve seen a significant increase in demand for
our phone-based services, which is reflected in the average wait times. In
March 2023 we made significant improvements to our call-me system where
we offered call-backs to all callers, reducing overall wait-times from this
period.
I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on
the Ministry’s website in due course.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].
Page 4 of 5
IN-CONFIDENCE
If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request regarding call wait
times, you have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui
pp.
Magnus O’Neill
General Manager
Ministerial and Executive Services
Page 5 of 5
Document Outline
