Midlands
Midlands Disability Benefits Centre (DBC) provides access to Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carers Allowance for disabled people and carers in the following counties: Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire; Lincolnshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
It provides an outreach service to customer representative organisations and other DWP agencies to increase awareness of DCS services and establish communication links.
The DBC Customer Service Team is responsible for dealing with customer feedback, compliments, recommendations about our service and complaints. We also provide a forms completion service, by telephone, to assist customers in completing DLA and AA applications.
Contact us
If you need further information about outreach events or have comments on the service Midlands DBC provides, please contact:
Outreach Manager: Colin Smith MBE
Disability Benefits Centre
PO Box 34
Birmingham
B99 1AR
Tel: 0121 626 2491
Email: midlands-dbc-customer-services@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Events
Future events will be published when arranged.
| Date | Location | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
12/01/09 |
Local Pension Service |
Review of Alternative Offices. Colin providing feedback from Midlands DBC. |
Closed event 2.00pm |
14/01/09 |
Local Pension Service |
Staff visit to Midlands DBC for discussion with Decision Makers. |
Closed event 9.30am |
15/01/09 |
Local Pension Service West Midlands North. |
Area meeting. Colin providing business input from Midlands DBC. |
Closed event 10.00am |
16/01/09 |
Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries |
Disability advice surgery for patients. |
Closed event. 10.00am to 3.30pm |
21/01/09 |
Raynauds and Scleroderma Association |
Discussion with patients and carers about disability benefits Organiser Helen Nutland will publicise via Association |
Closed event. 7.30pm |
27/01/09 |
Multi Agency meeting |
Colin to provide business update from Midlands DBC Cindy Hudson Tel. 0121 569 5544. |
Open to community organisations by prior arrangement 10.00am
|
28/01/09 |
Prostate Support group |
Presentation about disability and carer benefits Contact Joseph Dyke |
Closed event. For group members only 2.30pm |
News
Our Community 5000 programme gets underway this month with several of our staff spending time in the community assisting with local projects in specialist schools and residential care homes. This is a great opportunity for some of our staff to experience the lives of disabled people and carers by spending some quality time with them or assisting with garden projects for example. If your support group or local organisation needs help with a particular project we may be able to help.
Please contact Colin Smith for more details.
Outreach update
The Outreach programme gets underway again this month. This community service provides:
- information displays about disability and carer benefits at community events
- formal and informal presentations to carers support groups and to professional advisers
- occasional articles and discussions on local radio
- training for staff in local organisations involved in the completion of disability and carer benefits application forms.
If you would like some a visit to your organisation or require help in some way please contact Colin Smith.
Performance information
Claim clearance
The National Audit Office has agreed national targets for the clearance of all claims for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA). The table below shows:
- national achievements last year – 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007
- national targets for this year – 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008
- national achievements so far this year
- local achievements last year
- local achievements so far this year.
All the information is in working days. All the achieved so far figures are for the complete year 1 April 2008 to 30 September 2008.
| Type of application | National | Local | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achieved last year | Target this year | Achieved so far this year | Achieved last year | Achieved so far this year | |
| DLA new claim | 36 | 38 | 29.8 | 35.8 | 29.7 |
| AA new claim | 15.2 | 16 | 12.8 | 16.4 | 13.7 |
Complaints
If a customer complains because they are not satisfied with our service, our target for replying to the complaint is seven working days.
For the period from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 the table shows:
- the number of complaints we received
- the number answered within the agreed time. This may include answers to complaints received before 1 April 2007.
| National | Local | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints received | Answered within target | Complaints received | Answered within target |
| 3701 | 3467 | 96 | 85 |
The top complaints in this DBC last year were:
- Process and procedures
- Correspondence and forms
- Medical evidence
Compliments
When a customer is happy with our service they sometimes let us know.
This DBC received 369 compliments last year.
Comments
To comment on the information provided on this page, please email: external.communications@dwp.gsi.gov.uk