Departmental Telephone Services

Mr. Oaten
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 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.

Mr. Woolas
The Home Office Department has already rationalised many of its helplines and are moving to ensure that call costs to its helplines are free or are kept to a minimum. The Department seeks to align its telephony services to the guidance and rules set out by Ofcom, the communications regulator which answers to Parliament but is independent of Government. Ofcom is tasked with making sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and has a general duty to further the interests of citizens and of consumers.

We also work closely with the Central Office of Information (COI) which is the Government’s centre of excellence for marketing and communications to ensure our telephone services are in line with industry standards and are aligned to the quality and service standards of other Government Departments.

We will continue to seek ways to improve our telephony services and will consider the merits of the Helpline Association’s standards as well as other associations or bodies to ensure we strive to deliver a communications service (including telephony) that meets the public need.