Social Security Scotland Parliamentarian Enquiry Line and General Enquiry Line statistics: FOI release

Information requested

It was stated in Holyrood committee session that Social Security Scotland has an “MSP hotline”.

Based on this information, please provide the following the information:

Request for information 1 - The date (day and time) when the MSP hotline was introduced and became active.

Request for information 2 - The number of calls per month that the MSP hotline has received since it was made active.

Request for information 3 - The average call wait time for MSP hotline since it was made active.

Please break this down by showing the average wait time per month since it was made active. For each month, if possible, please also reveal the number of abandoned calls.

Request for information 4 - The number of calls per month that the regular Social Security Scotland number [the one everyone else uses] has received per month since the MSP Hotline was established to present date.

I’m requesting that time frame so a comparison can between the two numbers can be made.

Request for information 5 - The average call wait time for the regular Social Security Scotland number [the one everyone else uses] since the MSP Hotline was established.

I’m requesting that time frame so a comparison can be made between the two numbers.

Request for information 6 - A copy of any notice that was given to the Scottish Parliament to highlight the establishment of an MSP hotline and to spread awareness to MSPs.

Response

Requests for information 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested because our system only holds 13 months of rolling Management Information data.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

The Parliamentarian Enquiry Line went live on 01 October 2018.

The information provided in the tables below covers the period 16 February 2023 to 12 February 2024.

Number of calls made to the Parliamentarian Enquiry Line
Month	Total Calls
Feb 2023	27
March 2023	62
April 2023	101
May 2023	97
June 2023	109
July 2023	89
August 2023	105
September 23	95
October 2023	80
November 2023	91
December 2023	67
January 2024	96
February 2024	27

Average call wait time for calls made to the Parliameniry Line
Month	Total Calls	Average Wait Time
February 2023	27	00:00:25
March 2023	62	00:00:21
April 2023	101	00:00:23
May 2023	97	00:00:19
June 2023	109	00:00:20
July 2023	89	00:00:18
August 2023	105	00:00:20
September 2023	95	00:00:20
October 2023	80	00:00:22
November 2023	91	00:00:21
December 2023	67	00:00:23
January 2024	96	00:00:23
February 2024	27	00:00:25

Number of calls made to our main General Enquiry Lines
Month	Total Calls
February 2023	43,359
March 2023	127,389
April 2023	92,355
May 2023	85,478
June 2023	92,156
July 2023	78,119
August 2023	85,711
September 2023	81,212
October 2023	81,587
November 2023	82,220
December 2023	66,273
January 2024	105,436
February 2024	36,031

Average call wait time for calls made to our main General Enquiry Lines
Month	Total Calls	Average Wait Time
February 2023	43359	00:21:46
March 2023	127389	00:21:19
April 2023	92355	00:24:15
May 2023	85478	00:17:08
June 2023	92156	00:15:03
July 2023	78119	00:15:34
August 2023	85711	00:13:04
September 2023	81212	00:11:21
October 2023	81587	00:11:36
November 2023	82220	00:12:45
December 2023	66273	00:09:26
January 2024	105436	00:13:03
February 2024	36031	00:11:38

Request for information 6:
The Chief Executive Office sent out an introductory letter to all MSPs on 01 October 2018 which highlighted the Parliamentarian Enquiry Line. A copy of this letter is attached for you. The Parliamentarian Enquiry Line number is contained within regular Chief Executive Office letters to all MSPs, as well as within the standard acknowledgement email sent to MSPs upon receipt of an enquiry.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400397251 - Information Released - Annex

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