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Helplines

Volume 270: debated on Monday 22 January 1996

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the helplines, or schemes which include a helpline service, for which his Department provides any funding, stating which are (a) independent organisations, (b) run by his Department or agencies of his Department or (c) of another classification; how many calls each received in each of the last five years; and how much money each received from his Department in each of the last five years. [9804]

My Department funds a number of telephone, inquiry lines which the public can ring for advice. It has not been possible in all cases to attribute costs, but details which are readily available are as follows:

Calls

Funding

Helpline

Run by

Year

Number

Year

£

Immigration and Nationality telephone inquiry bureauDepartment1991

5358,000

1992395,000
1993436,000
1994458,000
1995501,000
Nationality Directorate telephone inquiryDepartment1991205,080
bureau1992202,000
1993225,000
1994240,000
1995218,000

6140,000

Office of the Data Protection Registrar inquiries lineNDPB1990–9138,000
1991–9242,000
1992–9344,000
1993–9448,000
1994–9566,000

1Commenced 1 March 1995. The helpline is run by Network Scotland with a grant from the Home Office.

2Commenced 5 December 1994. Excludes additional running costs of £4,000–£5,000 incurred as a one-off basis in the first four and a half months of the service only.

3Includes start-up costs of £8,000.

4Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded.

5Figures do not include recorded messages.

6Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded.