Your Re
ference: request-129985-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Reference: FOI - 24240
11th October 2012
Dear Mr Sanders,
I am writing further to my e-mail of 17th September 2012, about your request for the level of
information available to customer service representatives when requesting an application
status update. Your request has been handled as a request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. We are now in a position to provide a full reply to your
request.
I am able to disclose the following information:
I can confirm that contact centre Telephone Officers have access to basic information such
as date and type of application received and, in some cases, the case working team it is
allocated to. Because of these limitations Telephone Officers are unable to advise on
possible completion timescales for individual cases.
Previously, progress checks took a great deal of time to complete which meant that our
telephone officers were unable to provide the information that the majority of our customers
require in response to general immigration enquiries. The information we were able to
provide to a customer making a progress check was extremely limited, being only that the
case had not yet been completed. The decision was therefore taken on 10th October 2011
that this service would no longer be offered. In doing this our telephone officers are able to
answer more of our customers' general immigration enquiries, thus providing an improved
customer service as a whole with the resources available.
Information regarding the service provided by the Immigration Enquiry Bureau can be found
on the UK Border Agency website at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/contactspage/contactcentres/
I hope that this information meets your requirements. I would like to assure you that we have
provided you with all relevant information that the Home Office holds.
If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of
our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address
below, quoting reference 24240. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you
could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
Information Access Team
Home Office
Ground Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
e-mail
: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request will be
reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you remain
dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information
Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Yours sincerely,
David Scott,
UK Border Agency