Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Frank Field on 2014-03-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates’ courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers.

Shailesh Vara

The information held centrally on how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates’ courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers is as follows:

(a) Magistrates’ courts: 33 out of 330 courts

(b) County Courts: 17 out of 216 courts

(c) The County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton which centrally

manages money claims, also uses higher rate telephone numbers.

Some of the individual numbers are used for more than one court.

As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department’s approach is not to use 084 or 087 for non-geographic numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone —see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130423/text/130423w0004.htm#130423w0004. htm_wqn27

and

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?ids2013-11-20a.175002.h&s=Vaz+0845#g175002.q0

The number of 08 numbers used by the department has fallen by 55% since December 2009.

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