To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone helplines are sponsored by his Department with the prefix (a) 0870 and (b) 0845; and whether alternative geographic numbers are available in each case. (136258)

Under arrangements with our telephone supplier, DWP has (a) 22 specific 0870 numbers and (b) 2029 specific 0845 numbers, used for a variety of purposes. The Department delegates the administration and management of non-geographic telephone numbers to local management at operational level. The services linked to individual telephone numbers broken down to helplines is not available, nor the availability of alternative geographic numbers.