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Heated debate on hotline costs

by ANNA SMITH     POLICE have come under fire for the cost of calls to a crime hotline. North East MEP Stephen Hughes has spoken out at the 0845 number used by the Northumbria Force, which could see callers pay around 4p per minute.

And he says the Police rate is just the tip of the iceberg, with the NHS, Nexus Traveline and the Learning and Skills Council all using similar numbers.

European Commission law states that such call charges should be transparent, but Mr Hughes says often people do not know the costs.

Now he has written to watchdog Ofcom about his concerns.

"Too many public and private institutions are using these premium rate phone lines when providing vital information required by the public," he said.

"Many times people don't even know they are being charged these rates on top of what it normally costs them to make a regular call.

"European law does not ban the use of the numbers, but it does say that people should know what such calls cost them. The fact the people don't know the costs means that the Directive is not being complied with.

"For this reason, I have written to Ofcom to ask that it takes action to make these charges more transparent so people can make an informed choice as to whether they make a call or not.

"I think it is scandalous that the Police are using an 0845 number for people to report crimes."

Mr Hughes has secured the backing of European Commissioner Vivian Reding on the issue and may seek prosecution if his concerns are not addressed.

"On the Commissioner's advice I have written to Ed Richards, Chief Executive of Ofcom, to ask whether he believes the transparency requirements of the Directive are being met.

"Depending on his reply, I may be asking the European Commission to launch legal action relating to non-compliance with EC law," he said.

Charges for 0845 numbers could reach 4p per minute, calls to 0844 lines are charged up to 5p per minute and 0871 numbers cost up to 10p per minute.

However, Northumbria Police insist the 0845 number is not a premium rate line and the Force does not receive any income from its use.

Officials say charges will vary from between 1p per minute to 3.9p, depending on the phone package supplier, and it often works out cheaper than people calling across telephone codes on the Force's old numbers, such as a person in the 01661 area code dialling an 0191 number.

Supt Derek Scott said: "The 0845 non-emergency number was introduced last year to work alongside 999 and was chosen after consultation with internal and external stakeholders, with the intention of providing an easy number to remember.

"It has also allowed us to handle larger call volumes, improving our capacity to deal with calls when compared with the previous contact numbers and improving resilience at times of peak demand.

"We continuously review our systems and procedures and the use of the 0845 non-emergency number is no exception. If improvements can be identified, we will be examining the options available."


The full article contains 525 words and appears in Morpeth Herald newspaper. Last Updated: 08 February 2008 4:45 PM

 

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