BENEFITS Agency staff in Bury have been rewarded for their communication skills.

They and their colleagues in Middleton, Rochdale, Oldham and Failsworth have taken delivery of a national charter for their excellent service to deaf and hard of hearing customers.

The "Louder Than Words" accolade has been awarded by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) to the Benefits Agency offices which come under the Greater Manchester Pennine Directorate.

All the offices, including Bury, decided to work together to achieve the nationally recognised charter.

The move came after the discovery that one in seven of Benefits Agency customers were likely to be deaf or hard of hearing. The charter compliments an organisation's policy and procedure in addressing the needs of the hearing impaired and setting up good listening environments at points of contact between staff and customers.

It also recognises that key staff must be trained to communicate effectively with the deaf and hard of hearing and that companies should install certain equipment and be registered with Typetalk.

Organisations awarded the charter are evaluated every 12 months on the basis of feedback from the deaf and hard of hearing.

Matt Crosbie, Benefits Agency Greater Manchester Pennine Directorate operations director, said: "As North West Business Excellence gold award winners, the award of this charter guarantees an even better service for our customers."

James Strachan, chief executive of the RNID, said: "Deafness is an invisible disability.

"Our Louder Than Words charter helps organisations to open their doors to the UK's 8.7 million deaf and hard of hearing people."