Telephone Inquiry Lines Mr. Harper To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost is of switching (a) his Department's and (b) its agencies' telephone inquiry lines to freephone numbers. Gillian Merron The estimated cost of switching telephone inquiry lines to freephone numbers is as follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Estimated cost |Notes | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DfT(C)|£20,000 per year. |Estimated cost of switching the main DfT enquiry/switchboard number to a freephone number. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DVLA |£5.5 million to change from 0870 to 0800 freephone plus £2 million per year charges from the service provider. |— | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DSA |No figures available. |Initial assessments suggest high costs as charges for over 15,000 calls per month would have to be levied on the costs of theory and practical driving tests, negating the net benefit to the customer. However, DSA is currently assessing the feasibility of switching to a set charge per minute rate, which should limit the cost to between 1p and 5p per minute.| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HA |£8,000 per year. |— | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MCGA |£5,000 in first year, with future costs of £1,000 per year. |— | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VOSA |There would be no fee to switch inquiry line to a freephone number. Call charges and quarterly fees would then vary according to the call plan chosen.|— | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VGA ' |n/a |VGA does not have an inquiry line. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |GCDA |n/a |GCDA does not have an inquiry line. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Harper To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies accrued from national rate telephone lines in each of the last five years. Gillian Merron The following revenue was accrued from national rate telephone lines in each of the last five years: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |Revenue accrued in last five years (£)|Notes | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DfT(C) | |n/a |The Department does not use any national rate numbers | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DVLA |2003-04|875,000 |Information not available before 2003-04 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2004-05|1,945,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2005-06|2,423,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2006-07|11,601,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |DSA |2001-02|371 ,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2002-03|370,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2003-04|714,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2004-05|1,463,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2005-06|833,000 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HA |2005-06|1,000 |The one revenue-generating line was not set up until March 2005 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MCGA |— |n/a |MCGA has no revenue-generating telephone lines | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VOSA |2004-05|12,500 |Cannot separately identify telephone line revenue before April 2004| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2005-06|67,900 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2006-07|251,020 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VGA |— |n/a |VGA has no revenue-generating lines | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |GCDA |— |n/a |GCDA has no revenue-generating lines | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 to October 2 to end October| | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------