Labour MP John Healey demands end to stalling over 'rip-off' government department phone calls

Demand: John Healey

Minsters have been accused of dragging their heels over promises to axe high-cost phone calls to public services.

They pledged last month to replace 0844 and 0845 numbers – which last year cost the public £56million – across key government departments with the cheaper 0345 prefix.

Revealing that no department had yet fully switched numbers, Labour MP John Healey said: “Every day that passes the poorest people are being ripped off and forced to run up big phone bills because they are making essential calls to government services.

“Government departments have been told again and again that what they are doing is wrong. They must stop this telephone tax and start playing fair.”

GP surgeries have already been banned from using the expensive phone lines after the Sunday Mirror revealed that patients were being charged as much as £12 for a single call.

The crackdown was ordered by NHS bosses who launched their own inquiry following our findings. They said surgeries should be free to switch to cheaper geographic rate numbers under an agreement with phoneline providers.

The Department for Work and Pensions is the worst offender, with 148 helplines starting 0845.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-mp-john-healey-demands-3103427#ixzz2sBJbqBNC
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This is an absolute disgrace, is there no end to the ways that this criminal Tory scum government operates.

      

Sorry catman but it was under Labour that the 0845 numbers were introduced to the DWP.

Scotitch wrote:Sorry catman but it was under Labour that the 0845 numbers were introduced to the DWP.

Can't find any information on that, do you have a link?

How much have the charges increased over the years?

Catman wrote:

Scotitch wrote:Sorry catman but it was under Labour that the 0845 numbers were introduced to the DWP.

Can't find any information on that, do you have a link?

How much have the charges increased over the years?

No don't have a link just happened to work in DWP offices for the last 8 years and dealt with a lot of abuse when these numbers were introduced, if I remember correctly prices on 0845 numbers were 10p a minute from a BT landline. I would like to add that most times with a little digging a geographical number can be found for these calls or at worst attend a jobcentre and use the phones there or local connect shop. I am speaking purely about DWP side of it though and have no knowledge out with that.

Guess who introduced rip off numbers.
Your lovely labour party.