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Departmental Telephone Services

Volume 498: debated on Tuesday 3 November 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many help lines his Department operates; and how much his Department and its predecessor have received from the operation of such help lines in each of the last three years. (294975)

The Department for Communities and Local Government do not have a specific helpline. However, it does have a public inquiry line which is a contracted non-automated service. Calls to this line are charged at national rates and no income is derived by the Department from these calls.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider the merits of securing accreditation of his Department’s helplines to the Helplines Association’s quality standard; and if he will make a statement. (295729)

The Department for Communities and Local Government does not have any plans to secure accreditation of its telephone information lines to the Helplines Association’s quality standard. At present, the Department has no helplines although it does have a public inquiry service which responds to general inquiries made to the Department. However, we are continually seeking to improve the levels of service we provide to the public, and will investigate the benefits of such accreditation.